Team VRSZ: Volume Four
by NewDreamer
Summary: A long time has passed since Team VRSZ has been together. Every member left to do their own thing and have not seen each other all this time. Remus trains to better himself, Silver is a member of Team BASG, Zelts is helping Lily with her mission, and Violet's whereabouts are unknown. Eighteen months have passed, but the time has come. This is the day they've waited for.
1. It's Been Far Too Long

**Team VRSZ Volume 4**

Somewhere in Vacuo lies a place named Fortuna, a town that was practically nameless to the rest of Remnant. That's what it was in the past, but now it has transformed into something resembling a small city. It was nowhere near as developed as one of the four kingdoms, but it was a step in the right direction thanks to the reconstruction project. The success of the project helped repair old ruins into buildings that could be used as homes or places of business that furthered the semi-city's development. The project was created and led by a young woman named Clair de Lune Vantablack, a member of the Vantablack family, an aristocratic family whose members work behind the scenes in different governmental bodies around Remnant.

The expansion of Fortuna has brought in more residence and business, and because of it, Clair is almost viewed as a savior. The semi-city has gotten a little more recognition in the world of Remnant, but that wasn't always a good thing because new crooks and waves of crime have gathered as well and Clair couldn't fight them like a huntress, but in a manner befitting a ruler, though she will do whatever needs to be done for her home. However, everyone agrees that engaging Clair in an actual fight would be suicide. Clair has kept her home peaceful for quite a long time, even holding several parties and festivals to keep her citizens' spirits up in order to keep the Grimm activity at an all time low, but the Lady seemed rather cheerless in the past couple days and not many people knew why, though there were a few under her command who understood her dilemma.

 **Setting: Concordia**

Clair de Lune Vantablack was in her office sitting at her desk trying to finish the last of the paperwork she had to complete and the reports she had to review. She was wearing a white shoulder-less blouse with long sleeves and a ruffled collar with a pair of black dress pants and matching high heels. Her finger nails were painted black and her ears were pierced with moon shaped earrings. Despite showing no physical changes, the people of Fortuna would say their Lady has grown even more beautiful after completing the reconstruction project. Her uncle, Sterling Vantablack, was by her side the entire time to deliver the work to their designated areas, but he saw his niece's sorrowful expression. Signing her signature on one last paper, Clair fell forward on her desk letting go of her pen.

"Finally I'm done," she said with her face planted on her desk. She saw a pair of hands pick up the set of documents and she lifted her head once more. "Thank you so much uncle, I don't think I have any more strength in my hands to carry those, or any strength to walk for that matter."

She was trying to be funny, but Sterling can see through the facade. "Clair, are you still unwell?" Sterling said cutting through her facade to get to the root of the problem. Clair remained silent because she couldn't put up a front with the veteran Vantablack. Seeing as how her uncle wasn't going to deliver the papers until she answered, she did what he wanted and answered.

"How long has it been since we've seen them uncle? It feels so long ago since we've been graced with their presence," Clair said while turning her chair to look out the glass wall behind her to look at her Fortuna.

"It's been around eighteen months since the last time we've seen those three. It has been quite awhile, are you worried about them?"

"Those two boys will be alright, but the bounty on Wallflower's head made me nervous the moment you told me about it. A month after she left and she receives a bounty of 400,000 Lien? That is clearly corruption on someone's part and it only continued to increase as time passed. By now it stands at 520,000 Lien. I did my best to find her or to remove the bounty altogether, but my efforts have proven useless."

"All efforts Clair?"

"Even Team BASG (Beige) is using their free time to search for clues, but they've come up empty as well. Hmm, I almost think she really doesn't want to be found by us, but I know Silver and I will keep looking."

"It has definitely been some time since I've seen him. How is master Silver doing in regards to searching for his leader?" Sterling asked with concern.

"Surprisingly well, I think he is used to failing to find her and he isn't bothered by it anymore," Clair answered. "In fact, Team BASG is out following a lead right now. Bianca informed me that a group of bounty hunters were planning a joint assault on Violet. They've been lucky enough to track her movements and Team BASG plans to attack and interrogate them before their ambush can commence, maybe find Violet and bring her home."

 **Setting: Somewhere in Vale**

In a forest located near the fallen expansion known as Mountain Glenn was a large wooden lodge. Around the isolated building were unknown figures moving through the shadows. The figures were the members of Team BASG, staking out the building that housed the bounty hunters planning to go after Violet.

"Standby. Get in position Ghost. Once I give Blood the signal, the mission begins," Bianca said via wireless headset. She was near the lodge with another person beside her. Bianca appeared a little more mature, but her attire didn't changed at all.

"Understood, awaiting your command," Ghost answered with the palm of Purgatory bursting with fire dust.

Ghost has changed in clothing and appearance. He still wore his father's old tattered Greyhound jacket, but he wore a dark cyan shirt underneath with white pants and white sneakers with the same shade of cyan in the linings. Ghost got a little taller, not as tall as Silver, but he finally surpassed his sister. The long hair that he once had was reduced to a short messy hairstyle. The only thing that appeared out of place was the ghastly claw gauntlet that was his weapon, Purgatory.

"Ready Silver?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered with a focused look as he crouched down next to her.

Silver was wearing a black sleeveless suit vest with five silver buttons. Beneath that was a silver shirt with matching silver trouser pants and a black belt complimented by a silver belt buckle and holsters for his guns. He still wore his one fingerless glove and had a pair of black shoes. Silver's hair has changed slightly. He kept his black hair on his right side in its usual slick back style, but the spiky silver skunk streak on his left grew in length so much that he almost had two spikes cover his left eye like bangs.

Bianca and Silver raised their hands and Blood swooped down from the skies to grab both of them and fly above the lodge. Blood didn't change his clothes either, keeping his dark brown dress shirt, black pants, and shoes that were red at the tip. He stopped directly above the building still holding Silver and Bianca. With a squeeze from her hand, Blood let them go as they fell onto the roof and Ghost used Spectre to phase through the floor with fire emanating from Purgatory's palm while Bianca and Silver busted through the roof and ceiling with their guns out. Bianca kept her original bayonets, but Silver sported new handguns.

They looked around, expecting to fight some sleazy, bloodthirsty, money-grubbing bounty hunters, but were met with a something they weren't expecting. The place was destroyed with furniture scattered, walls damaged, and many bounty hunters unconscious all over the place. It was clear that a battle took place here and they lost badly. Some of them had cuts and nasty gashes while others had second degree burns, broken limbs, and internal bleeding.

Blood entered by busting through the front door and saw the spectacle before Bianca ordered them to look for anyone conscious or at least alive. Team BASG found that they were all out cold, but will live to see another day, unfortunately that meant they wouldn't be able to find out what happened. Silver was finishing his search then found something that answered the 'who done it' question.

"She was here."

The others looked to him when he said that. Silver looked at one of the bounty hunters and found something he hasn't seen in a long time, a Vorpal Sword, Violet's Vorpal Sword, lodged into the man's shoulder, but it wasn't like the ones he remembered. This particular throwing knife looked more menacing than any set she has ever used. With zero regard for the victim, Silver grabbed the knife and pulled it out of the man who screamed.

"Looks like she's the one who got the drop on them," Blood said.

Scanning the area Bianca came to a conclusion. "This was fairly recent but-"

"Yeah, she's long gone now," Silver said wiping the blood of the knife. His teammates thought he'd be sad, but he smiled. Silver kept the knife as a souvenir. Bianca could tell he was happy knowing that Violet was still okay and kicking, not to mention this was the closest they ever got to her. Silver thought today was success.

"Let's go back, can't leave the airship out in the open like that. Grimm activity is more frequent around here than before after that whole Vytal festival fiasco," Bianca ordered and the members of Team BASG followed her lead leaving the bounty hunters to fend for themselves since they don't need or want to help them in any way.

"Blood, keep our flying under the radar. The kingdoms have become very testy when it comes to unsanctioned airships," Bianca told Blood who sat in the pilot's seat.

"Got it," he said prepping the vehicle for launch. Bianca sat back in the passenger seats with her brother and Silver who played with Vorpal Sword in his hand. She felt like he needed some reassuring words so she walked over to him to boost his morale.

"We haven't been able to track her, but her movements have been leading her closer to Vacuo. She was in Atlas, Mistral, now Vale, Vacuo is probably next, and then she'll make her way home," she said sitting down next to him.

"Yeah... won't be long now." Silver took his eyes off the knife and unto his friend. They looked at one another fondly, but to the third wheel in the room, Ghost thought it was disturbing.

"For the umpteenth time, she is my sister," he said breaking both their stares. He enjoyed being Silver's friend and having a sister was great and all, but the idea of the two of them together seemed to upset him significantly.

"Grow up Ghost, we were just talking and if I recall, I'm the older sibling so I really don't have to listen to you," Bianca said with a playful smirk that made her brother arch his eyebrow in annoyance while it left Silver feeling like she was playing with both of them. They were times Silver thought Bianca saw him as another brother.

"Oh before I forget, how's it going with Sapphire?" Silver jested knowing how Ghost felt about the girl. The grim look on his friend's face proved he struck a nerve.

"...Nothing Silver. There is nothing going on between us. I don't care what lies she is spurring." Ghost's grumbling got a laugh out of his teammates.

Ghost knew Silver liked his sister and Bianca liked him too, but preferred to tease him about it than be upfront with it. He was the type of person who didn't like the idea of friends hooking up with family, even if they knew each other long before they met him. Fulfilling his role as younger brother, Ghost planned on interfering with any kind of relationship that could prove romantic.

 **Setting: Desert Near Fortuna**

Team BASG's airship was able to fly under the radar as the team made their way back home. While Blood was piloting the airship, the rest of the team waited patiently till they made it back home, well everyone except Silver was waiting patiently. He was sprawled out dramatically and moaned loudly so everyone present knew that after several hours of flying he was bored.

"AAAAGGGGGGHHHHH! Are we there yet?" He complained because he wanted to, much to the annoyance of those around him. It was at this point Bianca would walk over to Silver and punch him to shut him up, but Blood turned on the intercom before she followed with her action.

"Hey guys, we made it back and there seems to be some Grimm activity near Fortuna," Blood informed them.

Silver got up and used the intercom in the hanger. "We already completed our mission for the day, someone else will get to it."

"I know, someone has already engaged them in battle," Blood responded.

"See, some bounty hunters or new academy students can take care of it," Silver said before walking back to his seat.

"Actually Silver, the work being done down there is being done by a freelancer," Blood said happily.

When Silver heard him use that specific word his head perked up instantly and his eyes widened. Bianca and Ghost looked at each other, then to Silver and said 'Go!' in unison. Silver turned on his heels and ran to the cockpit where Blood was flying the airship. Through the windshield, he saw Grimm being tossed around through the sands and in the middle of it all was a man with twin wingblades mixed with gold stirring up a storm to batter the Beowolves and Nevermores.

Silver had a very large smile on his face as he made his way to the airships door where he slammed on the emergency button to open it. No one tried to stop him when he opened it and they didn't stop him when he jumped off the plane with no parachute, only someone who was the opposite of ordinary could do this and Silver was very far from ordinary. He reached for his guns and took them out as he used Gravity to increase his mass, sending him plummeting faster. Silver landed on the back of an unsuspecting Nevermore and the sheer force killed the beast as its fading body fell as Silver jumped off reversing Gravity's effect in an instant. The freelancer on the ground spun around once and created a massive windstorm that pushed back and killed some Grimm then Silver descended safely to the ground next to the person.

"Only person in Remnant who's a literal windbag! Zelts, my man it's been too long!" Silver said happily as he walked up and placed a hand on the freelancer's shoulder.

Zelts turned around with a big smile on his face that was now sporting a chin strap beard to match his short messy ginger hair. From the looks of his clothing, Silver guessed Zelts had spent considerable time in Mistral before coming here. Zelts adopted a more ronin style of clothing. He wore a pair of grey Inakaya denim pants with a sleeveless gold armored muscle shirt laced with dust and a short samurai robe that ended at his waist like a jacket and it had only one sleeve on the right side. The robe was green with gold ornamental lining. Zelts also wore a green scarf given to him by Lily and despite his new style of clothing he wore black converse high tops.

"You got taller," Zelts said with a grin.

"And you have facial hair."

"Yeah, Tigr- I mean Lily really likes it," Zelts said rubbing the back of his head with a hint of blush on his face.

Silver grinned nudging Zelts in the gut while Grimm surrounded them. With a twist of his blades, Zelts created a small burst of wind that sent them all flying and Silver shot each of them with his guns and the dust rounds set the Grimm ablaze but the remaining Grimm continued to move in close.

"You dog you, tell me the details about you and Lily after this, alright?" Silver said and it made Zelts laugh at the innuendo.

"I've really missed you Silver," Zelts said genuinely.

The Beowolves once again attacked in a swarm, surrounding the two freelancers, but Zelts once again swept them up into another maelstrom. Silver used Gravity to jump on top of one of the Grimm and killed each one with a point-blank head-shot before jumping to get to the next one until the windstorm ceased and he was high in the sky about to battle the Nevermores leaving Zelts to cleave through the Beowolves on the ground.

Team BASG set their airship down nearby and watched the spectacle, as the battle continued they all noticed one thing, half of Team VRSZ fighting together again with smiles on their faces. Blood and Ghost watched with amused looks while Bianca watched as well, but her focus was more on Silver. She smiled happy for her friend who finally had one of his brothers back after all this time. Bianca knew he really wanted to spend time with her and they were able to bond this past year and a half like before, but she also knew he really missed his surrogate family. The day would come when Team VRSZ would reunite and Silver would leave BASG, but that wouldn't bother her, their friendship, or anything. Thinking of his happiness, a blush of red came to Bianca's face as she forgot about the battle taking place and just stared blankly in its direction.

With the last Nevermore killed and the sun setting, the battle came to an end. The two freelancers stood back to back while catching their breaths before facing each other.

"New weapon, nice," they both said at the same time then laughed. Silver wrapped his arm around Zelts' shoulder and guided them to the place they've longed to return to.

"Let's head home and catch up, It's been far too long Zelts."

"Yeah, it really has."

* * *

 **Additional Information**

 **It has been a year and a half since the end of Volume Three and some of the characters have aged up and changed during the time skip.**

 **Silver Synch: ****Height: 5'11/** **Age** **: 18/ Birthday: July 17th**

 **Cerberus** : New weapon created by Onyx that can be seen as an upgraded version of Ceasefire. A pair of handguns with a silver dog head decorated on each barrel and more powerful than his last pair. No longer relying on Violet to supply him, Silver keeps his own rounds of dust to add more variety to his attacks. Silver himself is considered the third head of Cerberus. The escrima form of this weapon has the dog heads at the end of each stick to add more blunt damage with each strike. When paired with Bianca and her dual handguns, the Archangels, their team attack is called Orthrus by Blood and Ghost. Despite working a respectable job as one of Clair's special task force, he is still a dirty fighter.

 **Gravity** : Silver's semblance has developed more than anyone else on team VRSZ. His mastery over Gravity allows him to activate it almost as if it were a passive semblance. Silver can jump high, walk on walls, ceilings, and water without his body glowing from his semblance being active. He can do what the Alpha did and alter the weight and gravity of objects just by touching them so he only uses Gravity Bullet mostly on objects and people out of his reach. When he uses the technique the Alpha can use, his body glows silver like it used to. However, he cannot use Gravity to fly like Alpha, that is his semblance at its peak and has yet to obtain that level.

 **Zelts Allister: ****Height: 6'4/ Age: 20/ Birthday: November 28th**

 **Heart of Gold:** Zelts added some gold ornaments to the Wings of Icarus after constant battles wore the shield out. He went to an armory in order to add some gold looking material for repair and added defensive capabilities. The material also replaced the yellow painting of his feather symbol in the middle of the shield. Zelts thought the weapon looked different and it needed a new name. He gave Lily the honor and she named it after the owner, Heart of Gold. His abilities with the weapon hasn't changed much, though he has gotten stronger and can still surprise opponents. By twirling one of the blades in his hands, he can cloak the blade in its own wind and throw the weapon. The blades will move in a circular direction while spinning, slicing whatever is in its path before it returns to Zelts' hand. The technique is similar to using a boomerang. Zelts has been working on manipulating his aura and learned how to apply it to his shield to amplify its defensive capabilities and withstand more powerful attacks.

 **Conversion:** Zelts' semblance has evolved as well. He is now able to absorb energy from any part of his body not just his hands. If there's nothing around for him to use Conversion, then Zelts will use the new addition to his arsenal, his armored muscle shirt laced with dust. He absorbs the dust in the shirt to activate Conversion without the need to rely on an outside source anymore.

 **Zelts is based on the character Peter Pan but he is designed to look the exact opposite. Where Peter Pan was a young scrawny boy, Zelts is a young adult with muscles and facial hair. While Peter Pan is forever a child, Zelts is the oldest member of team VRSZ.**


	2. Rematch, Then There Were Three

**Setting: VRSZ Base**

It was a new day in Fortuna with two members of Team VRSZ in the semi-city. The VRSZ duo returned to the base they call home and Zelts could see the place hasn't changed since his departure, except for the large shelf surrounding the television, it held a lot of random items that he could only assume were Silver's spoils of war. With everyone gone it fell to Silver to take care of their home and he did a great job. Knowing his friend, Zelts half expected the place to have garbage everywhere.

Silver and Zelts were talking to each other all night, trading stories about what they've done since their separation. Neither of them showed any sign of stopping as they closed the time they were separate with stories. Silver told Zelts about some of the missions he's done on Team BASG and Zelts told Silver about his time with Lily before they separated in Mistral where she was thinking of making a home for herself. Silver realized something and needed to talk about it with Zelts.

"So... about Violet. Have you heard anything about her? Silver asked cautiously, knowing the choice of subject was probably touchy for his teammate. It may have been, since Zelts didn't look too pleased about it.

"Nothing good. I don't know how she got that bounty, but I've been worried ever since I found out. I was helping the kids so I couldn't go out and search for her, but whenever we heard she was close, Lily and I did our best to look for her though we came up with nothing."

"Same here, searched all around for Violet and find a way to resolve this but... it's almost like she doesn't want us to find her."

Just when Silver finished talking there was a knock at the door. He got up and opened the door to see Clair on the other side with Bianca and Ghost behind her. The Lady had a smile on her face when she saw Silver. "Oh-uh hey Lady Clair, what can I do for you?" Silver asked confused why his boss was here. _"Oh crap, my boss!"_ Silver thought, realizing he still works for her and didn't show up this morning.

"Lady Clair I am so sorry for not coming in today! I-I I... Zelts! Zelts just got back see and we just hung out the entire night and-" Silver tried to explain, but Clair rose her hand to stop his apology. Zelts saw a sight he never thought he'd ever see, Silver being apologetic and working for someone. He truly thought time has actually changed Silver.

After Clair dismissed Silver's plea, she walked inside, directly to Zelts and did something he should've known was coming but still wasn't prepared for. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a soft lasting kiss on the cheek. The poor man froze in place with blood rushing to his head.

"Uuuuhhhh..." Zelts was in a light daze from the affectionate way Clair says hello to the people really she likes. She giggled with her arms still wrapped around his neck as she pulled her head back to get a batter look at him.

"I've missed you so much. It warms my heart to see you again," she said with a smile, but Zelts was a mess. Seeing the effect she had on him, Clair stepped back to give him space and turned her attention to Silver, giving Zelts time to mentally recover.

 _"He's lucky Lily isn't here,"_ Silver thought before looking at Clair.

"Silver, we both knew that you working for me was temporary, but I thought you would at least come and withdraw formally instead of not showing up to work. How insulting," she said feigning hurt feelings, but Silver reacted like it was real.

"I-Ah... Forgive me Lady Clair! You're right I should've come by first thing in the morn-" He was caught off by Clair's laughing while Ghost remained stoic and Bianca giggled at her friend.

"Hahaha... I'm only teasing Silvester. I'm only here to say hello to Zelts after Blood informed of his arrival. Speaking of Blood, he should've been here by now. Ghost?" She looked to the young man who only shrugged his shoulders.

"He was doing some last minute work before coming to meet us, I don't what's taking him," he said nonchalantly. Being in Clair's employ for most his life has given him special permission to be his regular self with the young woman despite Bianca constantly reminding him to watch his tone.

 **Setting: Concordia**

Blood stepped out of the building, making his way to the VRSZ Base after finishing the last of his work. He enjoyed his stroll despite the heat that always annoyed him but endured it all for Clair's sake. When he was walking he felt a pair of eyes on him. Looking around, Blood saw a mysterious figure standing on the other side of the road. The person was wrapped in a robe with a hood covering their face and nothing else could be described about the person except they was tall, at least an inch or two shorter than Blood. He noticed some movement beneath the person's robe and saw the person draw some kind of mechanical staff in their hand. Blood used his speed to immediately close the distance between them, blocking the public view of the weapon as to not cause any kind of scene. He looked at the unknown person with a glare as he tried to firmly grip the person's hand, but the person moved their hand so Blood was only grabbing the staff.

"If you're looking for a place to start trouble, you picked a horrible place to start," Blood said in a threatening tone with his head leaning in close for emphasis. The person didn't seem fazed as they moved closer to speak.

"No, I came here for something else, but this is perfect," the person said in a masculine voice. "Battle me now, outside Fortuna, I need to fight you specifically."

Blood began to grin. "Fine, let's see what you got," Blood said, leading the way to outside Fortuna's borders and sent a text to Clair, Bianca, and Ghost with his scroll.

 **Setting: VRSZ Base**

The three recipients of the text checked their scrolls at the same time.

"Hmm," Clair moaned with a confused look catching Silver and Zelts' attention.

"Something good?" Silver asked.

"I got a group text from Blood: _'Come to Fortuna's border, something special is about to happen. Bring VRSZ,'_ " Clair repeated. "Well you heard him, let's go," she said walking out of their home with Ghost and Bianca behind her.

Silver and Zelts looked at one another questioningly before following the Lady of Fortuna.

 **Setting: Outside Fortuna**

Silver and Zelts made it to Blood's location along with Clair and her retainers to see Blood was about to battle some unknown warrior. Clair informed them that they were only to stand by and watch what was about to happen. Zelts voiced his concerns, but Silver actually enjoyed the order of sitting back and doing nothing, even with the passing of eighteen months, Silver was still as lazy as ever. They did as Clair said and stayed on the sidelines.

"I got 100 Lien on Blood, you in?" Silver asked Zelts.

"I'll take a piece of that action," Ghost said pulling his wallet out. Zelts was defiant, but eventually pulled his wallet looking at the opponent, Zelts felt something, something familiar about the robed entity.

"Let me place a hundred on the other guy, I got a good feeling about him," Zelts said. Clair smiled at their antics while Bianca grinned.

 _"Mmm... Boys,"_ she thought to herself amused.

"You're... different, not like most people I've fought before. I think I'm going to need these," Blood said sizing up his opponent. He opened his wings to reveal his whole body and hanging from his waist were two mechanical rings, one on each side. His opponent was unfazed as he brought out his mechanical staff.

"Rings?" Zelts said, not expecting Blood to bring out any form of weapon.

"Chakrams, Clair insisted that he have some kind of weapon on hand. Her persistence got to him and he picked any random thing to satisfy her worrying side," Ghost answered, looking bored so far but that changed when the battle started.

Blood moved in to attack, but the robed figure closed the distance much faster than he did. The figure's staff collided with the chakram rings harshly, with strength Blood wasn't mentally prepared for, but he held his ground. The robed figure jumped away to get some distance, but that was something Blood used to his advantage, he equipped both rings to his arms and dashed toward his opponent's torso with a jab. He missed, but the sharp edge of chakrams did catch the robe and tear it a little. To retaliate, the fighter tried to get another hit in by attacking with his weapon,however, Blood guarded by raising his arms and using the edge of his rings to block. At a standstill and with his opponent's weapon occupied, Blood opened his bat wings, hitting his foe on both sides, and pushed him back a couple feet. The robed fighter remained on his feet and Blood smiled, impressed that someone actually kept their ground after being hit by his powerful wings.

"You're good, not a lot of people can take a hit like that from my wings and remain standing. But that won't be enough, can't you do better?" Blood prodded and he got a response.

The person in the cloak placed both his hands on the staff's middle then twisted both sides in opposite directions. This action separated the staff into smaller ones then mechanical blades extended from both ends. The staff suddenly turned into two swords the assailant held in reverse grip. The person's face couldn't be seen, but he was smiling under his hood. Blood let out an empty laugh to disguise his worry, "Okay, that's better," he said, regretting his previous instigation.

The person ran toward Blood with a blade in each hand, he jumped in the air ready to strike, but Blood flew up and met the blades with his rings, metal clashing with metal. The clash ended with both warriors landing on the ground where a close-quarter fight took place and everyone watching came to the conclusion that this was Blood's victory. With his semblance, Paralysis, he could slow the movements of anyone as long as they touched him and the more physical contact, the slower they get until they're practically a statue. But as the battle continued, they were perplexed it took this long until they noticed something, the robed figure was purposely dodging any punches or kicks that would touch him, as if he had knowledge of Blood's semblance. Each fighter parried the other perfectly even as each of their attacks were executed at the right time, but Blood had another set of weapons, his wings. He opened them up to increase his attack range and with a turn of his body he tried to sweep the robed figure of balance, but his adversary reacted by jumping a good distance away, something Blood predicted.

Removing his chakrams from his arms, Blood threw both of them at his foe at high speed. The robed figure was able to deflect one, but the second one came so quickly it ripped into and right through the robe as it landed in the sand.

Silver freaked out as he saw what happened. "Blood! You've gone too far!" he shouted as he saw the robe fall to the ground with small vapors of blue smoke coming out of it.

"I knew it," Zelts said with a grin.

Blood did the same before speaking. "You don't have to hide anymore, now show me what you really got."

In the air above the robe, a puff of smoke appeared and someone descended and landed on top of the used cloak. Everyone smiled at the revelation, including Silver who shouted the fighter's name. "REMUS! You finally showed up!" he yelled with enthusiasm. The person turned after hearing their name being called, verifying it was indeed Remus.

"Hey guys, long time no see!" he shouted with a smile on his face.

Just like his teammates, Remus adopted new clothes. He wore a long sleeve cobalt blue compression shirt with black seams along the chest, back, and arms, but the left sleeve was ripped off, showing his entire arm and a black metal arm bracer placed around his wrist. He also had a pair of black cargo pants with a streak of blue running down on the sides until it reached the pockets, and a pair of black sneakers with white straps to complete his look. Silver and Zelts could agree that out of the three of them, Remus has changed the most physically. Being only fifteen, he was bound to get taller when he got older, but he grew to near adult height in such a short time, suggesting he had multiple growth spurts, but he was still an inch shorter than Silver.

He left the team to focus on training and it showed physically, he had more muscle than before, especially since he was more on the scrawny side back then. The difference in a year and a half was amazing, from fifteen to seventeen, he looked almost identical to his older brother, but with his cobalt blue color theme along with his trademark scar across the side of his head. Even his new weapon looked similar to Romulus' double-bladed glaive, but it wasn't an exact copy. He was also sporting something none of them expecting to see again, Remus had both eyes in their sockets instead of one, like he never lost it, but the sliver of a scar along his right eye showed it did happen.

Blood didn't have time or want to ask questions, he just wanted to fight Remus like he promised him long ago, feeling like this was overdue and Remus was now a worthy opponent. Clicking the handles of his chakrams, he activated one of the thin dust valves running through the rings and they were enveloped in flames before he threw both of them at Remus. With his blades he blocked the first one, but it continued to spin with the flames growing larger, keeping Remus in place. The second chakram was about to clash with Remus until he finally activated Checkpoint to teleport out of danger, causing both rings to collide with each other then explode. He reappeared above Blood and was moving in to strike with the blade in his left hand, but Blood intercepted by grabbing Remus' arm to stop the blade and use Paralysis to slow him down, but his hand only held the bracer which blocked his semblance from affecting Remus.

Remus actually landed a hit by twisting his body around to deliver a kick to Blood's shoulder causing the bat-faunus to flinch as Remus teleported away to his front to fight up close, but Blood opened his wings and flew past Remus to grab his discarded rings and placed them onto his arms before jetting back to Remus for an all out brawl. Remus dashed toward Blood as they collided, blade meeting rings before they past each other then continued their bout.

The onlookers watched in fascination as the battle continued with no way for any of them to decide who will win. Remus' speed gave him an edge in maneuvering out of Blood's attacks which were strong and a single touch, even a glancing blow, would be disastrous for him because of Paralysis. Silver and Zelts watched impressed with the results of their friend's training, the last time he fought the faunus the battle was completely one-sided as Blood toyed with Remus to just to measure his strength, but today was different, they were equals.

"This might be the first time I'm happy with losing a bet," Silver said to himself but Zelts heard what he said and smiled. But like everyone else, they didn't know how this was going to end. They were aware their teammate wasn't using feints like which were more his style, he was just being really upfront in this fight, like he wanted to face Blood head-on.

Blood had one chakram cloaked in flames and the other surging with electricity. He didn't throw them, but held the rings by the handles and used them for melee to counter the blades though he had no answer for the difference in speed. Remus was naturally fast and he only got faster the longer the battle, he was beginning to out-speed Blood and land a few blows, but not enough to take him out and any careless moves meant Blood could touch him with Paralysis and he did. He scored a couple of taps from his bare skin, activating his semblance, and it did affect Remus, but he was already so fast that he now moved at normal human speed, but it was enough for Blood to gain the upper hand. Even with this close a distance the bat-faunus threw his fire cloaked chakram at Remus, as it ripped into his aura, attacking him with spinning flames and pushed him back before Remus used his blade to swat it back to Blood.

He landed an uppercut on Remus which knocked him away and Blood was ready to go in for one last push but was caught off guard, forgetting about Checkpoint as Remus got a fair distance away. Even though his body slowed down his semblance was unaffected since its power came from his mind and was his fastest form of movement, but Blood concluded this battle was over now that he stripped his friend of his forte.

The faunus threw both his rings toward his adversary, one on each side, but Remus brought the handles of his swords together to transform his weapon to a double-bladed staff and each bladed end collided with each chakram. While defending himself, he saw Blood fly towards him at high speeds and with his natural speed lowered, Remus was forced to teleport away, making the rings continue on their path and land in the sand as Blood flew there to pick them up before turning to Remus who was in the air. Blood placed one ring on top of the other which caused them to link together to form one strong chakram bursting with fire and electricity, he reeled back ready to throw it. Remus transformed his weapon again and it transformed into a form long missed by his teammates, a railgun, it looked similar to his last one and seemed to work the same as he let the weapon charge before firing. The fight has reached its climax.

Blood threw his weapon as it surged with powerful dust while Remus allowed his weapon to charge some more while in the air. As the dust charged ring got closer and his weapon significantly charged, Remus finally fired a powerful bolt of energy that was headed straight for Blood at high speed. The two attacks didn't clash, they simply passed each other to hit their targets. Blood and Remus could've easily dodged the other's attacks, but they both smiled and allowed themselves to be hit, causing a big explosion on each side. Remus fell from the sky and landed in the sand. When the smoke cleared it showed both fighters standing, until Blood fell down on one knee and Remus fell backwards into the sand declaring Blood the winner.

"Aww man," Silver complained.

"What are you upset about, we won the bet," Ghost said.

"That was when I thought he was some punk trying to pick a fight, but now that I know it's Remus I was rooting for him. I don't want to bet against him."

"Don't worry about it the bet's off," Zelts said feeling happy for his friend's progress during the battle. However Ghost scoffed at them.

"Screw that, if you guys are out then give me all the money," Ghost said with his hand out. Bianca slapped her brother in the back of his head.

"Enough, besides you're too young to gamble," Bianca said in a big sister tone which annoyed Ghost, but got a laugh out of everyone else. Clair grinned to herself and watched Blood walk to Remus who was still lying on the ground.

"Remus? Hey Remus, you okay?" the faunus asked, concerned as his friend stayed still before getting up. Remus has been known for his deep hatred of losing anything from his time as an experiment to be the symbol of perfection and perfect beings never lose. That being said, he finally got up into a sitting position.

"Man you're strong, I was hoping this time I'd win," he griped playfully, showing he was actually fine with the outcome. Blood extended his hand for him to take and help get up.

"That was much better than our first fight, you've gotten very strong, stronger than I anticipated," Blood said happy and surprised. His comment made the younger boy smile with pride.

"You really think so?! I'm glad, but I still have a lot to learn and I can learn from my loses to get better, I know that now. Thanks Blood. I hope we can fight again," he said as the two smiled at each other.

"Sure, but I'm not gonna make it easy for you," Blood said as they walked to the others.

* * *

 **Additional Information**

 **Remus Cobalt : Height: 5'10/ Age: 17/ Birthday: April 21st**

Lupa trained him for combat per his request for the past year and a half while also teaching him about life in a more humane manner. She watched him fight Grimm, challenge huntsmen, and completed every task she gave him and saw him grow exponentially in such a short time. She concluded that Remus not only has unlocked his hidden potential, but if he keeps growing he will be capable of rivaling the myths and legends of Remnant.

 **Romulus** : Remus lost his old weapon and replaced it with a new one designed after his brother's and name after his brother. Romulus is a mechanical double bladed ninja sword. Its base form is a short staff, but can be separated and draw out the double edged blades. The swords can reconnect to transform Romulus into its third form, a double bladed ninja staff. The final form of the weapon comes from his Velocitas Eradico, a railgun form that is smaller and no longer volatile as it uses regular dust crystals instead of experimental ones. It can only be transformed by having both halves of the weapon together. Instead of a full power laser, the railgun just fires powerful condensed bolts of energy. Not only that, but he can stream the dust energy through the blades' edges for increased attack power and leave a thin trail of blue light with every swing. Remus wanted a weapon that gave him the versatility he needed to hold his own against any opponent and Lupa provided by creating Romulus. Remus named the weapon after his brother as a way of having a piece of his brother with him. There were times when Lupa saw Remus sleep with the weapon in its default staff form like it was a teddy bear. Romulus is similar to Lily's Flying Eagle when it comes to form changes, but Lily's weapon still has more forms.

 **Checkpoint** : His semblance has evolved to the point where he can teleport anywhere mid-range without having to look where he's going. And there's another thing he can do, for places that are very intimate or familiar to Remus, like VRSZ base, he can teleport their as long as he is in a certain range, like being anywhere in Fortuna. Even though he can teleport to any space around him, teleporting to places in his line of sight is much faster than his new way and the semblance altogether is faster than his natural speed. He can also control the amount of smoke that appears, making it small enough to be less noticeable or large enough for a smokescreen.

 **New Theme Song : XYZ English Cover by JorporXx(Mark de Groot)**: This song is the best one I could find to define Remus, not to mention his style of fighting is reminiscent to Ash-Greninja's. His last theme was a message left by his brother, this new one is Remus' genuine feelings. The lyrics help describe his new view on things. He no longer has a problem with losing fights, seeing them as a chance to learn from his mistakes to get better and never back down from a challenge. Even lyrics that include 'we' is from Remus' desire to fight beside his teammates. This also includes his brother, thinking he is still with him which is why he named his new weapon after him. And the instrumental version works as well, both are great for battle music.

 **Ash Blood : Height: 6'0/ Age: 24/ Birthday: March 6th**

 **Ghost : Height: 5' 9/ Age: 17/ Birthday: September 19th**

 **Bianca : Height: 5'8/ Age: 20/ Birthday: January 10th**

 **Clair de Lune Vantablack : Height: 5'10/ Age: 23/ Birthday: January 17th**


	3. Brothers In Arms

**Setting: Outside Fortuna**

Blood and Remus walked back to their friends after having a spectacular battle. Remus walked to his teammates who congratulated him on a good fight, Blood received the same from his teammates and boss. Silver had his arm wrapped around his younger friend's neck and jostled him a little in celebration. Zelts was more subtle and only placed his hand on his shoulder.

"It's great to see you guys again. What's been going on since I left?"

"A helluva lot happened!" Silver shouted much too close to Remus' ear.

"But we can discuss all of it back home. However, you have to deal with this first," Zelts added, backing away and Silver did the same. Remus wasn't sure what he meant until he turned to see Clair moving towards him.

She hugged him before kissing his cheek. "Oh Remus! It has been so long, I've missed you so much! You have no idea how much I wanted to see you all again," she said, still holding Remus, who turned a deep shade of red from the kiss and close proximity of the pretty lady. It was apparent to everyone that he was too overwhelmed to react.

"It's nice seeing him again, he's definitely changed," Bianca said and her brother remained silent as he looked at his boss snuggle the boy until he felt his sister nudge his arm.

"I can't believe you used to be scared of him, well according to Silver you were."

Ghost remembered the first time he met Remus under the guise of Turquoise's subordinate and it could've gone better. After all, Remus tried to kill Ghost multiple times and that left a very strong impression on him, seeing Remus in a different light than the rest of the world but it waned over time.

Clair continued to hug Remus, who was helpless against her feminine charm. Luckily for him, Blood came to his aid as he gently pried his boss off of the poor boy. "Come Lady Clair, you must return to Concordia, the work you pushed aside to visit must be done."

"Oh fine, ruin my good time," she said purposely sounding like an upset child. "Farewell Team VRSZ, please feel free to come by and regale me with stories about your time away from Fortuna, and tell me when your beloved leader returns the minute she gets here, I truly miss my Wallflower," she said before leaving with her agents.

"Violet isn't here? What happened while I was gone?" Remus asked his teammates.

"Like I said, a helluva lot. Come on, we'll tell you back home," Silver said leading his teammates back home.

"Hey Silver, I've been wondering," Zelts said as they made there way back home.

"What?"

"I've noticed a pattern with you, all of the people you've ever worked for have been women."

"You think so? Haven't noticed."

"First it's that psycho lady from Greyhound, then Bianca, then Violet as Team VRSZ, then Clair, then back to Bianca as Team BASG. What, you got a fetish for women with power over you?"

"...I don't know. Maybe, probably."

"...Want to talk about it?" Zelts offered.

"No, not really."

"Sure?" he asked one last time.

"Yep," Silver answered one last time.

"What's a fetish?" Remus asked anyone who would answer, but neither of them did.

 **Setting: Somewhere**

In an unknown village in an unknown place, there was a building housing bounty hunters, lowlifes, and disgraced huntsmen that take the jobs provided in the place. Rather, that's what it was until the place was decimated. It was clear from the bodies lying on the ground that an intense brawl took place. Furniture was destroyed and scattered around the building and it seemed everyone in their was down, except for one person who was walking to the front door in order to leave the building. The person even walked on top of the defeated warriors without any sign of mercy until they reached the door, but stopped when they heard one of the defeated huntsmen regain consciousness. The man's vision was blurry but he saw the person approach him, all he could see was the person's long purple hair before that person kicked him in the face, knocking him out again before leaving.

 **Setting: VRSZ Base**

Four days have passed since Remus rejoined the team. They did nothing but hang out and have fun. Like before, they talked about all the things they've done while away. Remus explained that Niveus Lupa created a bionic eye to replace the one he lost to his brother. It looks identical his the original, but with one improvement, it can enhance his sight like binoculars so he can see greater distances, giving him better range for his teleportation. Silver asked if he had X-ray vision or could shoot laser beams, but he said no.

Remus learned about Violet being wanted during his travels, but did nothing about it because he had faith she could handle anything. Silver and Zelts wished they could say the same, but couldn't help but worry about their absent leader, in the meantime, they hung out like the good old days, making their base livelier than it has been in months. Remus was rather upset to see the high scores of all his video games were beaten by Silver, who prepared food for his friend like old times, and Zelts checked around the house to see if any repairs were needed. One day, they heard a knock on the door.

"Deja vu," Silver said, opening the door expecting to see Clair, but got something unexpected yet familiar. On the other side of the door was a girl, a short girl with short messy red hair that could make others mistake her for a boy and she was wearing a red short-sleeved shirt along with black leggings and black boots. The cute doll-like girl looked more like an action figure with all the experience she has gained from being a student of Fortuna's academy.

"Hey Cerise, long time no-" Silver said but was cut off when the girl punched him hard in the gut. Silver fell on his knees, clutching his stomach from the pain of the surprise attack. Cerise didn't seem apologetic about what she did as she walked into the base passing Silver's hunched over form. Zelts saw what happened and thought that was very out of character for the sweet girl, it made him wonder if this was Cerise.

"Cerise? Is that-" Zelts was about to ask, but saw the rest of her team enter the base which answered his question.

Loden Take's attire hasn't changed at all, except she's wearing the top half of her training gi and it was somewhat in tatters from being in many battles. The white bandaging she had on her left arm was gone, but she still had the red bandages on her right in good condition. She has gotten taller and more toned, showing she has gotten stronger physically.

Sapphire Velum has grown as well. Now she wore a very blue denim jacket over a black hoodie and black jeans that were ripped in the knee cap area. Hair-wise, her pixie cut has gotten a little longer and she has gotten taller herself. She had grown to be quite attractive, it made Silver and Zelts wonder why Ghost doesn't want to start a relationship with her if she wanted one with him. It baffled everyone.

Hazel Vespid didn't have her honey colored hair in a bun anymore, rather she let it grow into a medium length layered bob. She also doesn't wear glasses anymore because she replaced them with contacts. Hazel wore yellow pants and a black sleeveless shirt with yellow buttons to show how she became less reserved and more outgoing.

Cerise's solemn look quickly changed to the sweet look Zelts remembered as she approached him. "Zelts! Remus! you guys really are back!" she shouted in glee.

"Cerise! You've gotten taller!" Remus said standing in front of her.

"You did too, wow!" she responded surprised that the young boy was a young man.

Remus just noticed that Silver was double-over at the front door and he tilted his head in confusion. "What happened to Silver?"

"That's what happens when you don't keep in touch for a year," she said, looking at Silver a little annoyed. Remus made a mental note to talk to her daily if he wanted to avoid her wrath. She wasn't as scary as Violet when she's angry, but he didn't want to deal with it anyway.

"I couldn't help it, Clair had me on back to back missions and when I wasn't working I was out looking for Violet," he said, finally getting back on his feet. "I didn't contact these guys either, not like I was just keeping you guys in the dark. They didn't punch me after all this time." He hoped his explanation would quell CLSH's feelings. It seemed to work on their leader who felt a little bad that she sucker punched her senior.

"After all this time, I can definitely say you guys have gotten stronger just from that punch," Silver complimented. It seemed to work as Cerise kind of blush from the compliment and her teammates felt pride in his words.

"You just noticed?" Sapphire said in a cocky tone. Hazel smiled to herself and Loden formally thanked Silver like always.

"So did you guys come here just to slug Silver, or did you come for something else?" Zelts asked.

"We heard rumors around town that Team VRSZ was back, so we wanted to see for ourselves," Hazel answered.

"And it looks like only 75% of VRSZ has reassembled," Loden said a little disheartened.

"Yeah, not yet. Bianca did confirm some recent reports of Violet's movements being closer to home. With any luck she's making her way back," Silver said with hope.

"Good to hear, now back to the real reason why we showed up, we want to see you guys back in action," Hazel said, surprising the boys that she was talking about action.

"To make sure you guys didn't get rusty after all this time. Be a shame if you guys got your asses whopped by a couple of girls," Sapphire taunted. The other girls laughed at her humor.

"Hmmm... I doubt we'll disappoint, after all we've gotten stronger, but we did it individually so our teamwork may not be as great as before," Zelts thought out loud. Silver smacked hard him in the back.

"Come on we got this, like driving an airship, you never forget. And before you ask around about an airship, I just want to say, I didn't crash it, it was all Blood's fault," Silver said, but Zelts didn't pay his nonsense any mind though everyone else wanted to know what happened with him, Blood, and an airship.

"Have you guys been to Moneta lately? Pick a job and show us what you got." Sapphire was clearly looking forward to watching them fight.

"Cool, I haven't gone on a mission in a long time, let's go." Remus was excited as he walked to the front door to head to Moneta.

"Who made you leader while Vi's away? I thought Zelts was our second-in-command," Silver said even though he and Zelts followed Remus nonetheless along with CLSH who plan to be witnesses to their battle prowess.

Before they could head to Moneta, they saw that two people standing in front of their base. They were the Vermilion Twins, Vermilion and Vermilya, both were known for their hair that was the color of wildfire, always causing trouble, and for whatever reason, they have a vendetta against VRSZ.

"So you dirtbags are finally back in Fortuna! Good to hear, cause now we can kick your asses and drive you out of town!" Vermilion said with his hair spikier than before and hold his treasured shotgun that was now equipped with a grenade launcher. "We were finally running the place while you guys were gone and we ain't letting that change!" he shouted aiming his shotgun at them.

"Running the place? We smack them around at least twice a week," Cerise said, visibly annoyed with their appearance. Her teammates seemed to feel the same and so did the boys.

"Though they have gotten stronger since the last time you guys met them," Hazel added. The fact that the surrounding civilians showed no fear as they cleared the area proved CLSH was right.

"Whatever, they'll make a good example of how we still got it." Silver drew Cerberus from their holsters and his teammates brandished their weapons as well.

Initiating the fight, Vermilion fired a grenade from his new launcher at both teams. Not wanting their home to be destroyed, Remus used Checkpoint to teleport to where the grenade was in the air. He grabbed it and teleported again, high into the sky. He threw it overhead to let it explode out of harm's way. Vermilya gripped her massive mechanical ax and ran toward the group ready to cut them down, but Zelts blocked her attack with his Heart of Gold and used it to push her back, making Vermilya stumble. Silver used this moment to jump up and stand on top of Zelts' shoulders then fired several rounds at her, damaging her aura and pushing her back further.

Silver saw Remus fall down and used Gravity to jump off of Zelts and with the effects of Gravity, moved till he was directly under Remus' landing spot while being upside down. Vermilion aimed his shotgun at Silver and Vermilya reached for the one of the ax blades on her weapon, she clutched it and separated it from her weapon as a large blade she wielded in her other hand. Vermilya attacked Zelts again with her ax in one hand and ax blade in the other. The two attacks did add more impact, but could not break through the Heart of Gold's defenses. Zelts quickly moved his shield aside to grab the hot-blooded woman's ax blade with his free hand and yanked it from her iron grip. He turned his body around to toss the large blade at her brother and it landed near his feet, piercing the ground which surprising Vermilion. It threw his aim off as he missed shooting at Silver just as Remus came back.

He landed right on the bottom of Silver's feet and the zero gravity effect kept them both in place, with the exception of them rotating a little from Remus' landing causing movement. Zelts was the first to move as he quickly grabbed Vermilya's arm and tossed her towards his teammates who were both positioned to take on both siblings, Remus was aiming at the brother and Silver at the sister. Using themselves as springboards to pursue their targets, Silver switched Cerberus to escrima form, bashed both sticks against Vermilya's backside, slammed her down into the ground and pinned her down. Remus drew Romulus just as Vermilion fired another round from his shotgun, but Remus quickly spun his weapon in its base form, deflecting the gunfire as he made his way to Vermilion. Swiftly landing in front of Vermilion, he delivered several quick strikes to his chest then a strong uppercut to his chin with an open palm, and then a quick but powerful double palm strike that pushed the brother farther down into the streets.

"Dirty, rotten VRSZ filth. I'm gonna-" before he could finish his insult, Vermilion saw that three of his grenades were on the ground with the pins removed. He looked up to see Remus standing there playing with the pins in his hand.

"...Dirtba-" Vermilion tried to insult him before the grenades went off, consuming him in a fiery explosion that sent him flying far off to land somewhere in Fortuna.

"Vermilion!" Vermilya yelled in shock. Worried about her brother, she gained some extra strength to knock Silver off of her and she ran away, to the direction her brother may have landed.

"That... brought back some old feelings, good ones," Zelts said with a grin.

"Yeah this takes me back." Silver felt the same way.

"Hmm I guess VRSZ is still pretty badass," Cerise said, watching from their porch with her teammates. "Right girls?"

"Still great as ever," Hazel complimented.

"I never had any doubt," Loden said with a grin and seemed less formal for a change.

"No doubt you guys got stronger, but taking on those two isn't much of a challenge. We know you guys are strong but take on a mission from Moneta," Sapphire said.

The members of VRSZ thought about what she said. Eventually VRSZ would have to take on missions in order to bring in money and they knew it. Despite all the fun they had with their reunion, they couldn't live on the money Silver made working for Clair forever.

"Better start now while we got the hot hand," Silver said in a cocky manner. Remus and Zelts agreed as they bid Team CLSH farewell as the other team left for home.

 **Setting: Moneta**

"Master Zelts, Master Remus, it is good to see you two again. My niece has already informed me of your return, but seeing you all here and how you've all grown brings me great joy," Sterling said as VRSZ came to his place of business.

"It's good to see you again Sterling," Zelts said to the older man for his friends. "We appreciate the kind words and we're here to prove how much we've grown."

"Any hard missions posted?" Remus asked but Silver rephrased the question.

"We're back and we need a mission worthy our name." Zelts thought Silver was being rude and cocky, but like always Sterling paid it no mind like the gentleman he was.

"Hm. There is one mission that has been unfulfilled for several months, a town further south of Vacuo was destroyed by a certain Grimm that's too stubborn to die. Most of the people who took this particular job have died while a lucky few make it out alive." Sterling's warning didn't seem to deter VRSZ in the slightest.

"Let's do that one, sounds like a real challenge!" Remus said enthusiastically. Silver decided to go to the digital mission board to check the money for completion. Sterling continued his warning to Zelts.

"If you do partake in this quest, go to some of the towns nearby the area, the town where the Grimm attacked is completely destroyed so some of the townsfolk have taken refuge elsewhere. Start there before going on your quest should you choose to-"

"We're doing this," Silver interrupted when he saw the large reward for it. Remus was happy, but Zelts was cautious.

"Eliminating some dangerous Grimm, we'll be careful Sterling," he said officially accepting the mission.

"Oh no you're mistaken, it's not multiple Grimm running a muck, it's just one, a very powerful one. Some new kind in fact, the people aren't sure what the proper name is but the ones that did see it were too scared to name it anything, just uttering jibber-jabber so they named it accordingly."

Silver revised the mission on his scroll to see what kind of name it had. When he saw it he looked befuddled.

"The hell's a Jabberwock?"

* * *

 **Additional Information**

 **Cerise Sanguine : ****Height: 5'5/ Age: 15/ Birthday: March 24th**

 **Loden Take : ****Height: 5'9/ Age: 17/ Birthday: February 16th**

 **Sapphire Velum : Height: 5'7/ Age: 16/** **Birthday:** **May 20th**

 **Hazel Vespid : Height: 5'6/ Age: 14/ Birthday: August 8th**


	4. On The Road Again

**Setting: Somewhere In Vacuo**

In a forest near the Vacuo-Vale border was a fairly large cabin. Smoke came from the chimney, indicating someone was currently taking shelter. Outside the cabin was a single person, a purple-haired hair young woman wielding a knife, walking to the front door. Once the person stood before the door, they stopped moving for a while as if she was contemplating something, the hand holding the knife trembled a little. Suddenly, the woman pivoted their body and landed a powerful kick that broke the door down. Inside the cabin living room was a chair with someone sitting in it, looking at the dancing flames in the fireplace. The person sitting acknowledged the presence of the other.

"It took you a long time to reach this point, back here, the place where our game began," the person sitting in the chair said not looking back at the other person. His voice was masculine and rough. "Now then, what do you plan to do next, Violet?" Absinthe said as he reached for his mechanical hunter's knife. The leader of VRSZ got into a fighting stance then rushed toward the source of all her trouble.

"Very well, let's end this game little girl."

 **Setting: VRSZ Base**

The day after accepting their mission, Team VRSZ prepared to leave for the assignment, but Zelts brought up one problem they may have overlooked.

"How are we getting there?"

"What do mean? We just go," Remus answered like it was a simple question.

"Just saying that doesn't solve _how_ we get there. The village and the ones surrounding it are very far away, not to mention Vacuo is mainly desert, not a terrain someone can simply stroll through. And given the distance it would be too far for us to walk, however by airship it would take probably two hours or less. Maybe we can ask Clair to lend us one."

While Zelts laid out the options available, Silver went to the garage. "Or we can take our car and be there in about two days, maybe less." His answer only confused his friends.

Remus wasn't sure if Silver knew what he was talking about. "We don't have car anymore, Violet blew it up trying to kill you remember?"

"Yes Remus, I remember, sometimes I have nightmares Violet relentlessly trying to kill me and it keeps me up at night, it really does. But we do have a car now, follow me if you want to see it."

When Zelts and Remus walked into the garage they saw the car Silver was talking about. It was a sleek, eye appealing silver car, a sports car that looked really out of place in Fortuna. Zelts thought there was no way Silver got this legally. "Where did you find this?"

"A major spoil of war from one of my missions. She was pretty banged up when I got her, but I did my best to take care of her. Couldn't let her waste away and we needed a new car, a good deal if I say so. Violet is more of a gear head than I am so she can take care of the things I overlooked. If anything, I say we traded up from that old jeep."

On closer inspection, Zelts saw some nicks and scratches on the car showing it was used but something else caught his eye. Remus noticed as well as he crouched down to inspect the oddity located on the left side of the car.

"What's with the S?" Remus asked. It was an outline of an S spray painted with black paint.

"It's how we spread our name, just like the last car, we each spray our VRSZ letters on the side so people know who we are. Here." Silver grabbed two can of spray paint, blue and gold, and tossed them to Remus and Zelts respectively.

"Add your letters before we head out."

 **Setting: Desert**

Team VRSZ drove through the desert in their car like they used too so long ago. Silver drove with Zelts in the passenger seat and Remus in back scoping the landscape and using his bionic eye to check for any potential far away threats. Zelts was focused on whatever was in front of him while Silver smiled like a mad man as stomped on the gas.

"MAN I MISS HAVING A CAR!" Silver shouted with joy.

Zelts said nothing and let his friend have his fun, but he thought of a more serious matter, Violet. _"Come home Violet, we need our leader back... Plus we're missing a purple V on our car, without it the car just looks silly,"_ he thought, trying to keep things upbeat since they were going to be driving for at least two days without any stops except for adding the spare gas in the trunk.

 **Setting: Absinthe's Cabin**

Several hours have passed as the sun began to set, creating an ominous scarlet color in the sky. In the woods the cabin was destroyed, the structure was toppled over with only one thing left standing, Violet. At her feet was Absinthe, laying on the ground with blood dripping down his mouth and his lower half under the rubble along with his mechanical knife, leaving him at the young girl's mercy.

"Congratulations, you won, against all odds you championed through it all..." Absinthe said though it pained him to do so. "And even more impressive, you've surpassed me, what I wanted from my apprentice, even one as defiant as you." He looked up to see her face, but because of the angle and position he was in, Absinthe could only see up to her thighs. Even though he couldn't see her entire body, he could tell that she was severely hurt from the battle. After two harsh breaths he spoke again.

"Now, bring this game to an end, kill me. Don't worry, I have very good connections to those who have had a hand in this game, the minute I die they will be notified and remove your bounty, like it never happened. So kill me already." He closed his eyes waiting for death, but the finishing blow never came, instead the defeated hunter opened his eyes to see Violet slowly walking away.

"You plan to let me live?" Absinthe asked, but Violet remained silent as if she was mocking him. This was not the thing that upset the hunter, it was the fact that she was sparing him that angered him. Silent pity, pity to Absinthe in any form, was worse than death. "I will go after them, your loved ones without mercy if you look down on me!"

Violet kept walking in the direction the sun was setting, shining through the trees and unto Violet's body making it impossible to see her form properly. She stopped and turned around to finally speak to her defeated adversary.

"After all this time, I contemplated whether to kill you or not, but looking at you now, I don't think I will. Like you said, I'm stronger than you now, so if you still have the balls to go after them, I'll face you and beat you every time. You have zero power over me," Violet declared as she turned to walk away.

"I have one last card to play...Violet or should I call you by your real name, Aylssa Underland."

The minute Absinthe spoke that name Violet stopped walking and looked at the crippled man with immense rage, but to the hunter, who couldn't see her face, he thought she halted in fear.

"That's right, while you were fending for your life I did some digging of my own and finally found the faintest connection between you and your family. Would you like to know what your father's doing? Or would you rather I inform him of your whereabouts and what you've been doing with your life. With this kind of leverage I have many options available. Maybe-"

Absinthe stopped speaking when he finally noticed Violet was only inches away from him. He couldn't see her face, making this a little terrifying for him, he had no idea what she was going to next. The livid girl drew one of her daggers.

 **Two Days Later**

 **Setting: Village**

After a long voyage, Team VRSZ finally made it close to one of the villages confirmed to have survivors of the Grimm attack. Compared to Fortuna, this town was extremely small with ordinary buildings instead of skyscrapers buried beneath sands and some of their buildings were barricaded, most likely an attempt to keep Grimm at bay. If VRSZ wanted to keep a low profile they were doing a horrible job at it. The car was gaining the attention of everyone in the village, but this may work to their advantage by drawing out people who know a few things about the Grimm menace they've come to eliminate.

"You couldn't get a car that was less conspicuous?" Zelts complained to Silver who grunted in annoyance.

"Uh, did you not hear me when I said this was a spoil of war? I took this from a smuggler, it was either this or an old beat up jalopy, I did the best with what I had. Would you rather I chose the jalopy Zelts? If you find a better car, you can steal it," Silver answered a little irritated from Zelts' backseat car stealing tips.

VRSZ divided into two groups, Zelts and Remus went to a building that appeared to serve similar services to Moneta, a place where bounty hunters could take missions, and where the duo gather information while Silver spoke to the locals who were remnants of the destroyed village to learn more about this threat. The only problem is that they arrived to the town around nightfall, finding a place to stay would be wiser than heading straight to battle, so gathering info fast and improvising with what they had was the best option.

 **Two Hours Later**

VRSZ found an inn they could afford to stay in for the night. Their room only offered two beds and a couch, so with a game of rock paper scissors, Zelts and Silver got the beds and Remus was stuck with the couch. Before they went to bed, they pooled all the information they gathered to better understand what they were up against.

"You first Silver, what did you find?" Zelts asked, sitting on his bed while Remus laying behind him, ready to take in everything they will say. Silver was sitting across from Zelts on his own bed.

"I did find some people who used to live in the destroyed town and they were able to tell me a little about this Jabberwock, though there wasn't much they knew. Basically it's big, has wings, claws, and ugly. Not a lot to go on, but they were running for their lives, so I don't blame them... Found anything on your end?"

"None of the hunters know about it because the ones who went for the 300,000 Lien mission never came back. We're pretty much going in blind." He didn't want to complain, but this wasn't good for them. A powerful unknown Grimm was not something ordinary hunters like to fight, even freelancers like them were a little worried, well Remus wasn't, he likes a challenge.

"Zelts, you're forgetting the important thing, what we found out about Violet," Remus interrupted while sitting up right.

"She okay?" Silver asked concerned.

"Her bounty has been taken off the list," Remus said happily and Silver reacted quickly by standing up, thinking what it usually means when a mission was taken of the roster.

"She isn't-"

"No, it's not what you think," Zelts said to calm his friend down. "Turns out her bounty has been removed because whatever charges on her were dropped. Meaning people have no right go after her now. This kind of thing is... really uncommon."

 _"Ordinarily, bounties that high don't just go away over night,"_ Zelts thought.

"It doesn't matter how it happened, Violet's safe now, that's the important thing," Remus said before laying back down on Zelts' bed. "Maybe she'll finally come home."

"Good to hear, and with that I think we should end today on a high note, night guys," Silver said getting into his bed. "We head out to village ruins first thing in the morning," he said before getting under the covers and closing his eyes.

Remus got up and made his way to sleep on the couch while Zelts got in his own bed. They stayed awake, thinking of their mission before falling asleep and dreaming of being united with their leader again.

* * *

 **Additional Information**

 **When searching for Violet, Team VRSZ couldn't use her name because of her bounty, so they resorted to describing her as a different person. When people asked them to description of who they're searching for, each member had a different description. Remus said she was someone strong and cool, Zelts gave them a physical description while avoiding the use of her name, and Silver only said one thing; she a girl that punches like a dude.**

 **During his time away from the team and after helping the children, Zelts has been living with Lily for some time. Zelts is also known for having a habit of late night snacking and he eats and drinks things straight from the jar, bottle. Silver knows this but the other members don't. One night, Lily caught him drinking soda from the bottle, and as punishment, she told him to finish all the soda in the bottle while she watched and it was nearly a full bottle. Zelts' stomach was upset throughout the rest of the day and he learned never to drink or eat anything straight from the bottle again. Zelts also learned Lily has a little bit of a sadistic side.**


	5. VRSZ The Jabberwock Part 1

**Setting: Forest**

It was high noon and Team VRSZ were continuing their venture to the abandoned village to slay the Grimm called the Jabberwock. Their travels have taken them away from the desert region Vacuo was known for and into the more forest-like areas around the borders. With the change in terrain, the team decided it was best to traverse on foot now that trees were in the way and debris on the ground could damage the car, so they parked it in a small well hidden area in the forest.

The team was quiet as not to alarm any Grimm of their presence. Silver moved above them all by jumping from tree to tree while Remus held onto Zelts and teleported them further to their destination past the Grimm. However, their stay hidden tactic seemed to be unnecessary because the amount of Grimm in the area was surprisingly low. Zelts thought it was most likely because of the lack of people thus the lack of negative emotions to entice them. Avoiding all the Grimm with ease, it only took them half an hour to reach their destination.

 **Setting: Abandoned Village**

The place was completely destroyed, all the buildings were reduced to rubble with the area covered in claw and scorch marks all around. When they entered the vicinity, Team VRSZ felt a difference in the air, it was heavier, almost suffocating as breathing nearly became difficult. The village was located alongside a very small mountain and at the base was a cave with claw marks around the entrance.

"Razed to the ground and completely deserted, this is the place," Silver said trying to lighten the mood. It worked but not as much as he hoped since they didn't respond to his comment but checked their surroundings. "See the target?"

"It's not skulking around here," Zelts confirmed. While looking, Silver glanced at the cave in the foot of the mountain with more claw marks around it than the town.

"How about in there?" Silver pointed to the cave, but there was no visible sign of life.

Remus stared into the cave. "Hold on."

His bionic eye shifted and zoomed in to see further into the grotto. The cave was dark, too dark to clearly see what was in there, but he did see signs of something moving inside, something big. He zoomed out of his eye's scope mode. "I think it's in there."

"Pretty cool upgrade, now eat your heart out." Silver drew one of Cerberus from its holster, pointed at the cave and fired one shot. It traveled down the cave before it was heard ricocheting off of something followed by an angered growl. Silver smiled at his own marksmanship. "Found our mark."

They could hear the sound of stomping getting louder coupled with blood curdling growls that did unnerve the boys even if none of them wanted to verbally admit it. The sound of large footsteps got louder and louder until they stopped and for at least a two minutes. The boys were waiting for the Grimm, but it seemed like its movements ceased entirely. Silver, being both stupidly impatient and stupidly curious, pointed his gun at the hole and fired again to see what would happen. Before Zelts could berate his teammate, a giant black claw with bone plating came out of the cave along with the rest of its body, bringing the Jabberwock into full view.

The Grimm had a draconian body and like any Grimm, it was jet black, but seemed kind of mangled. Its large feet and tiny claws were covered in bone-like armor decorated with several scars up to its ankles. On its back were wings that looked skeletal, but probably capable of flight and an appendage between the them that looked like a skinny tail. It had an absurdly long neck that oddly seemed to be the only thing out of place on the beast and its head was very dragon-like with bone plates covering most of its face except for two pairs of tendrils, one looked like a long thin mustache above the smaller pair. Its eyes were red like any Grimm and when it opened its mouth to roar, a ghastly black smoke came out.

Team VRSZ stared at the Grimm in astonishment. Zelts realized this was why no one has ever completed this mission, Silver was regretting shooting it twice and maybe the bounty wasn't worth it, Remus had a psychotic smile on his face and was practically bouncing on his feet as he was itching to fight this massive Grimm.

"How'd it get into the cave?" Silver asked.

"How'd it get out of the cave?" Zelts asked.

"I don't care, I want to fight it so bad," Remus said with his body trembling. With no one talking or coming up with a battle plan, Remus couldn't contain himself any longer and charged straight for the Grimm.

The deformed Grimm gaze was fixated on the boy running toward it before attacking. It took a deep breath, aimed at Remus, then unleashed a stream of blue flames from its mouth like a flamethrower. Remus used Checkpoint to dodge the flames and closed the distance between them by teleporting unto the Jabberwock's back, but once the flames hit the ground they began to spread throughout the area. They approaching Silver and Zelts, but Zelts got in front of his friend and protected them both using his Heart of Gold to shield them. The flames died out and the Jabberwock was too occupied with trying to get Remus off its back to care about the other two, giving them time to formulate a plan.

"It can breathe fire, perfect?" Silver complained.

The Grimm tossed and turned to get Remus off its back, but he brought out one of the blades in Romulus and stabbed the end into its backside to hold on. Zelts held his shield up and Silver jumped onto it like a foothold then Zelts flailed his shield in a throwing manner, sending Silver flying to the Jabberwock thanks to altering his own gravity and mass. While soaring through the air, Silver pulled out his second gun and fired several dust rounds at the Grimm, hitting it with lightning shots in order to damage and paralyze it, but the size of the beast was too great and it only served to somewhat harm it. He did manage to gain its attention and stop it from bucking, giving Remus a chance to move and attack. Remus moved along its backside up to the base of the neck, delivering quick strong slashes, but they were shallow cuts that seemed to injure the Jabberwock somewhat, but mostly annoyed it. Silver almost made it to the beast's head and Remus was ready to walk up its neck, but the Grimm did something unexpected to counter the duo. It screamed and spikes erupted down its neck, causing Remus to stop and retreat, but they continued down its back so he was forced to jump of the Jabberwock altogether. The Grimm focused on Silver, who was still soaring to it, it raised its front claw to catch Silver and slammed down to crush Silver and keep him in place.

Silver had Cerberus shifted his weapons to escrima form to work like a car jack between the monster's claw and the ground, but he was pinned down, unable to do anything except keep himself from getting crushed, but he could only hold it off for so long. Before the Jabberwock could apply anymore pressure, Zelts launched a powerful gust at the wyvern to push it back a little and get its claw off of Silver, who quickly regrouped back with Zelts. Remus did the same and the Jabberwock shrieked a frightening earsplitting battle cry before flapping its wings, ready to take flight. The Grimm flew up into the sky, leaving the boys to only stare until it turned around and dive bombed them. Opening its mouth, the team guessed it was ready to rain blue fire from the sky, but got another unexpected surprise, this time the Jabberwock breathed red lightning. Zelts brought his shield up protect everyone but he wanted to do more.

When the blast hit, Remus and Silver got as close to Zelts as possible to get some cover and the lightning strike hit the shield, but failed to harm any of them as the Heart of Gold kept them safe, though the pressure of the attack was getting to Zelts, so he put the evolution of his semblance to use. His whole body glowed gold from activating Conversion and as the stream of lightning continued to hit them, some of the lightning surrounding them were being drawn into his body. The Jabberwock ceased its action to see whether its prey was obliterated, but from the sky it only saw a shield. When the shield moved, the Grimm saw that its prey was alive and there was a difference in one of them. Power seemed to be brimming through Zelts' body and his face was very serious.

"Remus, give me a boost?" he asked and his younger friend smiled.

Remus placed his hand on Zelts' back and used Checkpoint to teleport them both in the air above the Grimm. Remus split Romulus into dual swords and Zelts split his shield into wingblades as they descended onto the unsuspecting Jabberwock. With increased strength, Zelts slammed both his blades against the Jabberwock's back, doing significant damage and knocking the Grimm closer to the ground, and Remus was coming in as the second string, but when the Grimm was aware of their presence, it reacted by swiftly swinging its tail at Remus, swatting him away as Zelts fell to the ground,making a small crater on impact and the Grimm flew further into the sky. Before he could use Checkpoint to save himself, Remus slammed into to the ground. Silver was the only one left to go on the offensive. He went to Remus to do what he did with Zelts before and teleported them both above the Jabberwock.

They landed on its back and Remus played decoy to gain its attention by slashing the tail-like appendage on its back and actually slicing off the small part of its body that disintegrated before it reached the ground. The Grimm bellowed in pain then grew more spikes of its back to ward off the intruders. Using Gravity, Silver jumped over the spikes to the top of the Jabberwock's head and told Remus to return to the ground. Remus went teleported back to Zelts' side and watched Silver's plan in action. The Jabberwock flew erratically in the sky in order to shake Silver off, but thanks to his semblance there was no chance of him losing his footing. He reached down to feel the bone plating.

"Nice helmet, want to test out how durable it is?" Silver spoke as if the Grimm understood him.

Readjusting Gravity, Silver made it so the Jabberwock's entire body was extremely heavy, too heavy to fly, and it plummeted to the ground with Silver staying on top of it to keep the effect going and hoping he can move out the way last second. Almost to the ground, The Jabberwock was flailing as it fired blue flames and red lightning from its mouth as if it will stop its fall, but the only thing it did was make it more dangerous for Sliver to jump off. Mere moments from the ground, Silver thought the Grimm wouldn't be able to save itself so he jumped off while the Jabberwock was still firing and he got blasted by a beam of red lightning before the Jabberwock hit the ground with such force the town shook.

The power of the attack broke through Silver's aura and he fell to the ground, injuring his left arm and shoulder, but satisfied his double-edged attack defeated the Grimm, however, growling from behind meant his attempt failed. Silver turned his head to see that the Jabberwock was slowly but surely getting back on its feet, one wing was broken and the bone plating on its face had multiple cracks, but the Grimm was still alive and looking at Silver with anger in its eyes. It took a deep breath to burn him to cinders in a blue blaze.

Right when the fire almost hit Silver, Zelts appeared in a puff of blue smoke along with Remus. He shielded them all from the fire attack while also using Conversion to absorb some of the flames to keep his strength up, however, the Jabberwock didn't stop its violent blue stream of fire as it burned down everything else in the village. Zelts kept using Conversion to take some of the pressure off, but because of the endless assault, he reached the full amount of energy he could absorb and with his shield keeping the flames at bay, Zelts couldn't use the new method he learned to drain his energy while absorbing more at the same time. The flames surrounded them so Remus couldn't see where to teleport and didn't think it was safe to teleport anywhere so he was pinned. Silver hurt his arm and his aura was no longer protecting him, so he couldn't afford any more risky moves. The heat from the flames surrounding them made staying in that spot even more uncomfortable for them. Team VRSZ was driven into a corner by this powerful Grimm.

The breath of fire continued and VRSZ's backs were against the wall until something small entered the battle. At high speed, it zipped to the Jabberwock and sliced through one of the tendrils on its face, making the beast stop its attack to scream in pain. Once the flames ceased, the guys looked to at their mark to see what caused it to stop attacking. Silver looked around and saw something familiar stuck in the ground, an unusual knife he saw before. Thoughts clicking in his head, Silver quickly looked around the village to find the culprit but saw nothing. Then he heard the Jabberwock scream in pain again as something slashed off the other tendril. A knife landed on the ground below the beast's head and a pillar of stone erupted, landing a strong uppercut on the Grimm. In front of the team, appearing out of nowhere was someone very familiar.

"Who do you think you are scaring my boys like that?"

When the person fully became visible, the members of VRSZ looked on in stunned silence at who they saw. Until Remus grew the biggest smile he ever made. "Violet!" he shouted in happiness.

Violet wore a brown leather jacket with a white fur collar over a dark purple sleeveless shirt with an outline of her tulip symbol located to the bottom right side of the shirt. She also had rough black jeans and black combat boots. The shirt had a stretched collar in the front to be used as a mask to cover her mouth and nose. Violet's hair was pretty much the same but a little longer. She had more of a side cut now with the length of her purple hair moving down past her right shoulder with her left side shaved off and showing her natural blonde hair. Her lavender eyes were the same, but they seemed much more sharp, giving off the impression of experience.

"Remus, Silver, Zelts," she said looking back at them with a devious grin. "It's been far too long, but we'll have to chat after this thing is dealt with." She lifted her shirt's collar to use as a mask. "I'm taking the lead."

"Are you sure? That thing is dangerous, it has a 350,000 lien bounty on it," Zelts said worried over his long lost leader and friend.

Violet smiled beneath her mask. "Mine was 520,000. Looks like I'm the dangerous one here."

* * *

 **Additional Information**

 **Violet Tulipe : Height: 5'10/ Age: 19/ Birthday: February 9th**

 **Cheshire's Enigma** : A new set of Vorpal Swords Violet created on her own. It's similar to her original with two new additions based off Silver and Zelts. One addition contains gravity dust that when activated uses its powerful gravitational pull to draw opponents into one area or to take in certain attacks like bullets or laser fire. Her second improvement are the Vorpal Swords laced with wind dust that can do two things depending on how she applies her aura. One way is when she throws the knife in a direction and it will create a funnel of wind that travels down the thrown path hitting and picking up anyone close to the small windstorm. The other way is when the knife is thrown and when it hits the ground it creates a medium size tornado to destroys the surrounding area. From Remus she improved her speed and reaction time helping Violet draw and throw her knives much faster than she could before. Violet calls them Enigmas for short.

 **Invisibility** : Violet's semblance, Invisibility has taken new heights. After constantly running away or avoiding bounty hunters and foes too powerful for her to handle at the moment, she used her semblance to her advantage to get out or, if she was feeling bold, attack from behind. Doing this multiple times has made her semblance evolve in a unique way, when she goes invisible she can be completely undetectable, her scent and movement can't be sensed by anyone, even Remus who familiarized himself with Violet's Invisibility for their team attack. She can't be found unless she makes her presence known by speaking, reducing her semblance from undetectable to normal invisible, or other methods. Even surveillance devices like radars can't detect her presence. She can also make larger objects invisible but those objects and other things cannot be undetectable like she is.

 **Theme Song : Tomorrow Is Mine from Bayonetta 2:** This song best describes Violet's new character very well. Over the course of eighteen months, Violet has changed greatly becoming more confident yet more at ease with who she is after all the struggles she has been through. Before, she had to be strong or at least pretend to be because she thought it was necessary in order to control a team of powerhouses like Remus, Silver, and Zelts which is why Sable was her original song, but now, she is naturally strong, a true leader, and enjoys fighting. Violet has also gained confidence in herself, so much so that it sometimes comes off as looking down on others but that's not the case. She is almost always underestimated by her enemies so she takes great pleasure proving them wrong. In the song are some lyrics that can reference each member of Team VRSZ.

"You won't know what hit you"-Violet

"When I spin around"-Zelts

"Leave you in my dust"-Remus

"Then bang bang, down down"-Silver

 **Violet has scars covering her body due to fighting foes both weak and absurdly strong for such a long time. Because of her new clothing covering most of her body, the only visible one is a faint vertical scar on her along the left side of her chin and reaches down to her neck.** **She also seems to be radiating beauty that sometimes draw more attention than she like. Throughout her time being hunted Violet had to disguise herself and change her appearance multiple times. She even resorted to removing her purple dye in her hair and rely on her natural blonde hair to threw off any pursuers. Violet has also donned a playful smile when she fights which sometimes misleads and confuses enemies who can't figure out what she's thinking. This was adopted from the Cheshire Cat.**

 **Zelts' new technique to drain the energy from Conversion is sticking one of his wingblades into the ground then run the electric current created by the absorbed energy into the ground like a lightning rod. He can do this while absorbing energy meaning he can absorb an unlimited amount of energy.**


	6. VRSZ The Jabberwock Part 2

**Setting: Abandoned Village**

Violet dashed to the Jabberwock, leaving her boys to regroup before returning to the battle. Before the Grimm could do anything she vanished using Invisibility to successfully confuse it and keeping her whereabouts unknown. Instead of looking for Violet, the Jabberwock returned its attention to the boys who finally got their second wind after reuniting with their leader. Before it could do anything, several dust knives landed around it and each created a small tornado that startled the beast. Deactivating her semblance, Violet was in the air and threw several Enigmas at its face with each one exploding with fire dust around the armor.

"Silver!" she shouted and like always, Silver knew what she wanted just by saying his name.

He aimed one of Cerberus at the Jabberwock and fired one fire dust round that hit the Grimm right in eye, exploding on impact and blinding it on the right side. The Grimm rampaged in pain as it moved around the town. Violet retreated to a safe distance before moving to the Grimm and climbing on its back. She jumped on top of the spikes on its back and gracefully moved to its head by balancing on the spikes despite the movements and jerking the Jabberwock made, it didn't knock her off and she didn't let it stop her momentum. She reached into her bag of Chesire's Enigmas and pulled out something irregular. She tossed it at the Grimm and it landed in its left eye, successfully blinding the beast. On closer inspection, the weapon lodged in its eye was in fact Absinthe's mechanical knife.

With both eyes shot, seeing nothing but darkness, and surrounded by enemies, the Jabberwock was going into a frenzy. It let loose streams of fire and lightning at anything in its direction, but it hit the ground, already destroyed buildings and air. Pretty much everything was indiscriminately burned down. Violet deemed it too dangerous and swiftly retreated back to her boys.

"Silver, you and I will stay behind. Remus and Zelts, go at it full throttle."

Remus took the lead with both blades in his hands as he ran to the beast with Zelts running behind him with a boost in speed from Conversion. They dodged the fire blasts and lightning strikes and Remus teleported onto the Jabberwock's back and shifted the handles of his blades, doing so made the edges of his weapon glow cobalt blue from the energy flowing through it. With the sharpness of his blades heightened, Remus ran across its back slicing off the spiky spines along with the Jabberwock's body, but because the Grimm was already outraged, it didn't notice the pain. He cut through all the spines up to its neck before Zelts made his way to the beast and with extra strength, he rammed his shield into one of legs, causing it to topple over and fall. Remus jumped off while bringing his blades back together to transform Romulus into its railgun form. He fired several energy bolts to damage the Jabberwock while Zelts moved to its head and backhanded its face with his Heart of Gold, the impact jerked the beast's head away, cracking the bone armor more.

"It's on its last leg, put it out of its misery!" Violet said with her mask hiding her smile.

Silver remembered what he said about Violet long ago, about how she was the type of person that doesn't gain strength from her friends, but rather she gave them strength to go further than they could before. This battle with the Jabberwock was proof of her talent as the tide changed the moment she entered the fray.

"You got it boss!" Silver shouted with a grin before running with her to the Jabberwock.

Remus landed on the ground and moved in to attack the Grimm per Violet's order and Zelts did the same. With dual swords and wingblades, they unleashed attack after attack without mercy, slashing away what life it had left. Silver and Violet joined the onslaught, beating down the defenseless Grimm as it lost the resolve to fight. To end the battle, Silver grabbed Violet by her arm, and with Gravity, tossed her in the air above the Jabberwock's neck. Zelts threw one of his wingblades to her and she caught it midair. Raising the blade with both arms over her head, she was ready to slay the Jabberwock. In one movement, she brought the massive blade down with all her might and cleaved its neck, chopping off the Jabberwock's head before the body began to disintegrate. The battle was over.

"It's finally over," Silver said, holding his injured arm with his other one. With their struggle finally over, the boys of VRSZ were at last able to properly reunite with their leader and vice versa.

"Violet," Zelts said happily, knowing she was safe and sound.

"Took you long enough to get here. We were almost about to get worried you know," Silver said mockingly but meant every word.

"Speak for yourself, I was already worried, but I knew you'd be fine Violet. I...we just really missed you," Remus said with a big smile.

Violet looked at her team and saw the warmth they emitted. For the past eighteen months she was forced to play Absinthe's game of being hunted all around the world. She battled to survive, ran away to survive, created new weapons for herself to survive, questioned her morals to survive, everything she did it was to ensure her own survival. Unlike her friends she was always alone, fending for herself, she was living in a cold lonely world and Violet was worried that she would be just as cold and heartless if she ever returned, but that concern instantly went away when her team welcomed her with open arms.

Her heart was breaking when she saw the people she cared for the most stand in front of her. Violet couldn't keep her feelings inside or her facade up any longer, tears welled up in her eyes and she started crying, alarming her teammates. Before they could do anything or ask what was wrong, she approached them and tried to wrap her arms around all of them, but only had one hand on Silver's shoulder and the other reached Zelts' chest with Remus in the middle with Violet's lowered head resting on his right shoulder near his neck. She continued her sobbing and they just let her get it out, actually, Silver and Zelts understood her joyful tears, but Remus eventually spoke up.

"Violet, are you okay? Did you get hurt fighting the Grimm?" he asked, genuinely concerned for her. She lifted her head and retracted her arms to wipe her tears.

"No, no, I'm alright. Just... very happy to see you guys again," she said as she stepped back to get a good look at them.

"You've grown," she said to Remus.

"You grew a beard," she said to Zelts.

"And your hair..." she said to Silver, but stopped shaking her head. "There's so much I want to say, so much I want to hear from you guys."

"We can talk about it back home," Zelts said with a smile that Violet missed seeing.

"Yeah, let's head back," Silver said but felt the pain in his arm. "Though I don't think I can drive with my arm like this."

"You have a car?" she asked surprised.

" _We_ have a car again," Zelts corrected. "and it looks lik-"

"I'll drive!" she insisted.

"Alright." Zelts got the key from Silver then tossed it to Violet.

"But before you drive the car, you need to do something. Don't worry I have the spray paint in the back," Silver said.

Team VRSZ made their way back to the car then back to the village and after a day of rest, they were homeward bound. Violet drove while her boys were doing their own thing in the car that now had a purple V, completing the Team VRSZ insignia on the side. She smiled thinking how they've grown but at the same time haven't changed. This was what she yearned for all this time and now she was finally heading back. As time during their voyage passed, Violet could see Fortuna in the distance. The skyscrapers buried in sand reduced to two to four story buildings and a little of the buildings from the reconstruction project.

 _"Home,"_ she thought joyfully.

* * *

 **Fun Facts**

 **I wanted my team to finally be back together before the end of the year, after all the things I put them through up to this point, I feel like they deserve it. There won't be a main plot or main antagonist in this volume, instead, volume four will be about the team taking on various missions as freelancers and interacting with their friends. The length of this volume is currently uncertain.**

 **Before their separation, Remus was the shortest member on the team, but now he ties with Violet as the shortest member even though everyone on the team is pretty tall.**

 **Silver had the base all to himself these past months and at first he enjoyed the autonomy. During the first few weeks, he even dared to do something that he, Zelts, and Remus were forbidden from doing, go in Violet's bathroom. Having the master bedroom and master bathroom to herself seemed like a crime to Silver so he took a shower in there. Unfortunately for him, he mistook Violet's hair dye for shampoo and his hair was purple for some time, making memorable first impression starting as a member of Team BASG.**


	7. Taking A Break Part 1

**Setting: VRSZ Base**

Violet's return to VRSZ was a joyous one. She was filled with happiness the whole drive back to Fortuna. During their drive, the boys told her all about the things they've done when they were apart, or at least they tried to as each one was talking over the other like children. Seeing them act this way because they were happy she was back made Violet feel wanted, something she hasn't felt in a long time. Violet told them to wait until she got them home to tell her everything and they did throughout the night until she was too tired to stay awake and left for bed, despite her teammates begging her to stay up, but it was very late in the night and she needed rest.

Violet slept in her bed for the first time in months and she enjoyed every second of it. The soft bed, the warm covers, and the inviting pillow, they were all calling to her and she answered. She slept the rest of the night and all through the morning until her slumber stirred by the sudden weight added onto her bed. Turning her body over, Violet saw what it was and even though she was slightly annoyed it was overshadowed by the joy of experiencing this old ritual again.

"Good morning Remus," she said warmly to the young man perched over her form with innocence in his eyes and a smile on his face.

"Good _afternoon_ , we thought you'd like to sleep in a little more, but I think it's time to wake up."

"And I thank you all for the extra time. I'll be with you guys shortly." She got up which signaled Remus to get off the bed. He left the room, leaving Violet to get dressed and ready for the day.

Walking downstairs, Remus jumped onto the couch with Zelts on the other side polishing his Heart of Gold until he felt his friend's presence.

"How is she?" Zelts asked not looking away from his shield.

"She's fine, said she'll be down in a minute... I'm just so glad she's back," Remus said, adding that last part out of sheer happiness and Zelts could understand where it came from.

"I feel the same, especially after everything she told us. I still can't believe she went through something like that, all for some game Absinthe created. Whether it was for revenge or a sick joke, it doesn't matter, he went too far, anyone else would've died from that kind of hell," Zelts said, feeling guilty that a part of his past affected Violet so greatly.

"But she's fine now, like I knew she would be. Violet's pretty much unstoppable," Remus said sure she was okay.

"I wouldn't say unstoppable, but I can certainly hold my own," Violet interjected, walking down the stairs and dressed for the day. Despite the topic she seemed completely alright talking about it.

"But if what you told us is true, then the only way out of it was to fight Absinthe and kill him. Violet... did you-"

"As I told you last night Zelts, it's none of your concern, it's over and done with. Absinthe isn't a problem anymore," she interrupted Zelts who wanted to know the full details, but she denied him. He wanted to know in order to help her cope, but she seemed fine. Violet even had no problems showing them the scars she obtained all over her body even if she just showed the ones on her back. It actually frightened them all, especially Remus, who was visibly upset like he received them instead.

"Zelts, if I need to talk about it I will, we promised to tell each other our stories remember?" she said with a smile that reassured Zelts in some way.

Just then, the front door suddenly opened. Violet already had an Enigma drawn, but realized she didn't need it when she recognized who it was. Clair once again graced Team VRSZ with her presence along with Bianca entering behind her and Silver behind Bianca after getting the money from Sterling for slaying the Jabberwock.

"Hey, look who I found," Silver said referring to Clair, but his attention was more on Bianca who purposely ignored him out of playfulness. She adored Silver just as much as he does her, but messing with him was still her favorite pastime.

Clair quickly walked to Violet, wrapped her arms around the purple haired girl, and planted a big kiss on Violet's cheek, very close to the corner of her mouth. Violet froze in place for a few seconds before regaining her composure. "Yes.. It has been a very long time Clair, could you please let me go now?" Violet said still in the older woman's arms. She clearly handled the situation much better than the others.

"Not yet, I'm saying hello and goodbye," Clair said confusing Violet. Clair gave Violet some space and looked her up and down noticing not only the physical change but the change in personality immediately. "I don't think I can call you Wallflower anymore," she admitted sadly, seeing her friend has matured quite a bit.

"I just wanted to finally see you, I missed you the most." Clair smiled, finally separating from Violet.

"Hurtful," Silver commented and Bianca jabbed him in the gut with her elbow. "Gah... that hurt too. I don't want to play this game anymore."

"And to the real reason I've come here, Fortuna is having a festival to celebrate the completion of our reconstruction project and the beginning of a new future. With you guys back, it can also be a celebration of VRSZ's return. Please, come take part in the festivities, I'll be performing a song using Songstress to soothe the hearts of the people, trust me you'll have a wonderful time."

"...Sure, should be fun."

Violet's answer surprised her Silver, Zelts, and Clair as well. The normally secluded Violet who never joined any public functions has evolved into this new Violet that was more social. "I really can't call you Wallflower anymore can I?" Clair said more proud than upset.

"I'll see you all in Vantablack tonight, now if you'll excuse me, I have preparations to make." Clair left along with Bianca who commented to Violet that she was happy she was back, then planned to tell her about every time Silver sulked about missing her at the party. Violet had a small devious smile thinking about it.

When it was just VRSZ in their home, Silver eyed his leader suspiciously. "...What?" she asked him.

"You've... changed a lot since the last time I saw you and not the way I expected, given what you told us happened to you. After Absinthe's bounty thing, I thought you'd be darker and a brooding archetype," Silver said, eyeing her up and down like she was an impostor.

"Dark and brooding has been done to death and I find it quite boring. I'll admit that ordeal did a number on me, but it's in the past and made me much more confident in my ability to be your leader. If anything, I'm more daring and outgoing, but none of you have to worry your pretty little heads, I'm still the same person who will look after all her boys," she said with a hand on her hip and a smile that showed she meant every word.

"Good, I don't think I could deal with a new brooding leader. Sequels hardly ever live up to the original and I prefer classics," Zelts said, glad his friend hasn't changed that much.

"Thank you Zelts, oh, before the party starts I need to go get a new scroll. That bastard hunter wrecked my last-"

"Here you go." Remus held out a new state-of-the-art scroll with Violet's symbol on the back. She stared at it for a while before taking it.

"Thank you..." she said before asking how or why he has the scroll.

"It's from Lupa, she said this is for you specifically. It has my delta sign encoded in it so whenever I'm in danger like... the last time, you'll know where I am. Lupa said you were the only one she trusted to have this." He smiled but Violet was skeptical.

At first Violet never liked Lupa, even now she still doesn't have full confidence in the wolf faunus, but she remembered what Remus told her about trusting in him when it comes to Lupa. Violet looked at him, specifically his new eye that the scientist made to replace the one he lost, and gave in. Violet put the scroll in her pocket and flashed him a smile to show she liked his gift.

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Zelts went to open it and the members of Team CLSH appeared on the other side like déjà vu. But instead of Cerise punching Silver in the gut, she just stared at Violet, the person she looked up to the most. Seeing as how their leader wasn't moving or saying anything, Sapphire walked past her into the house while Hazel nudged Cerise to snap her out of her trance and she walked in with her and Loden.

"Team CLSH, you've come to see me as well?"

"We're here to finally see Team VRSZ back together and it was worth the wait. It's good to see you again Violet," Loden said, feeling glad to see VRSZ's leader.

"Everyone is glad to see you again. When Silver texted us you were back we came as quick as we could. Sapphire's enjoying it, coming here gives her a reason to procrastinate on our academy work," Hazel commented, but Sapphire shrugged, agreeing with her friend instead of resenting the comment. Hazel's statement was true, Sapphire would rather be swinging from building to building with her Spinnerets than doing homework.

"Eh...you're not wrong, studying isn't my strongest quality and meeting with VRSZ is extra credit to my laziness," she commented, putting her hands behind her head and Hazel smiled.

Violet smiled at the young girls that blossomed into a real team. She looked at Cerise with concerned because the girl has said absolutely nothing and stared at her this entire time and Violet wasn't the only one who noticed. Remus stood next to Cerise and tilted his head in confusion before poking her in the cheek with his finger. The invasion of personal space was enough to snap her out of her trance and revive her ability to speak as she registered Remus' presence then looked to Violet.

"Um... Violet, first, I want to say it's great to see you again, I really missed you and now that you're back... I have a request," Cerise said, hesitating on speaking like what she was going to ask was some kind of forbidden taboo but Violet encouraged her to continue. "What is it?"

"I want... to fight you," she said with resolve, but to everyone else it seemed out of place, except Remus who nodded in agreement like he knew her intentions.

"Really?" Violet said not saying yes or no. "Why so sudden?"

"Because I know that for a long time... I've admired you and I wanted to be exactly like you when I formed a team with my friends. Then when the academy started, I wasn't sure if we should attend because you guys didn't, but you insisted that we should try it and see what happens. At first, though I never said it, I honestly thought this was your passive aggressive way of ditching us, but after some time, I realized what you wanted from us, from me, to make a path for ourselves instead of following in VRSZ's shadow."

Violet grinned, proud Cerise understood her hidden message. "And now, I want to fight you as someone who'll walk her own path."

"Good, I accept, but it'll have to be some other time. Clair is holding a party for everyone in Fortuna and we're going."

"A party! We're going too!" Sapphire said more excited for skipping homework to party. She hooked her arm around Remus saying she was looking forward to see what he was like at a party. Silver wanted to use this time to hang out with Bianca, as long as Ghost wasn't going to play protective brother that is.

The festival was going to begin at nightfall, giving VRSZ a good reason not to go out and do any jobs. Instead, they stayed home with CLSH until it was time for the party. It reminded all of them about the first time they met and how they did the same thing. Sapphire pestered Silver about the things Ghost likes, Loden and Zelts played video games with Remus, but as always he won, even when Zelts and Loden teamed up to take him down while Hazel cheered them on and Remus as well, not wanting him to think anyone was against him. Cerise and Violet sat in the kitchen, watching their get along before exchanging stories of all the things they've done in their time apart.

* * *

 **Fun Facts**

 **This and the next chapter is just Team VRSZ celebrating the new year their own way.**

 **On one of the missions as a member of Team BASG, Ghost lost his pinkie finger on his right hand in the midst of battle. Bianca, being a protective older sister, destroyed the guy who did this to Ghost. Losing a digit doesn't bother him** **the slightest as it is covered by Purgatory and he sees it as part of the job.**

 **His semblance, Spectre, has evolved in two different ways. One way is that he can make parts of his body intangible, not just his whole body, and the other way is a new technique where Ghost enters a person's body while intangible, possessing them and giving him control their bodies, however, he can't use their semblance since he's using his own.**


	8. Taking A Break Part 2

**Setting: Vantablack**

It was finally night time and Vantablack was decked out with decorations, attractions, food stalls, and a stage in front of the Concordia building. The majority of Fortuna's residence was there, showing how the population of the city-town increased over time and it would only get larger as Fortuna continued to thrive. Everyone there was already having a great time enjoying themselves, emitting nothing but happiness and positive emotions that kept the Grimm at bay, one of the reasons Clair decided to hold this festival. Team VRSZ and CLSH arrived together, amazed by the success of the event even though it just started.

"Swanky," Sapphire said before grabbing Remus by the hand and running away with him while the others lose sight of them in the crowd. Loden, Cerise, and Hazel went on their own as well to try some of the food, Silver was about to look for Bianca until she showed herself by walking up to them.

"Bianca! Hi! Uh- ug..I-I mean... sup. Wanna...try some of the food?" Silver said despite his fumble from her sudden appearance.

"Doesn't that sounds lovely," Bianca said, making Silver smile but she walked to Violet instead. "Come on Violet, let's try them." Bianca locked arms with Violet and left before she or Silver could protest, leaving him with Zelts who found it very amusing.

"Come along Casanova, while they do that we'll try some of the games they have. Make you feel better," Zelts said, placing a reassuring hand on the dejected Silver's shoulder as they walked to the area where some carnival games could be found.

Silver quickly got out of his funk and enjoyed himself as he played and won every shooting game while telling Zelts about how Bianca was an amazing person. Zelts began to do the same with Lily, eventually leading Silver to one up him by continuing to compliment Bianca and it lead to a back and forth until it escalated into a verbal fight to see who had the better girl.

"...I bet Bianca could kick Tigress' ass," Silver said.

"No disrespect to Bianca but Ti- I mean Lily would definitely win."

"What makes you so sure of that?"

"She kicked your ass-"

"Shut up!" Silver shouted, remembering the ass-kicking he and Remus got from her.

Elsewhere, Bianca dragged Violet to one of the more popular food stalls serving magnificent bowls of ramen. They were met with Cerise, Hazel, and Loden who were already eating so they sat together as a group. While Bianca and Violet waited for their food they watched, more like stared, at the other three girls enjoying their ramen and it made their stomachs growl until their bowls of ramen finally arrived. While eating, Bianca told Violet all the embarrassing things Silver's done in her absence. Some of the stories made Violet and the other girls laugh while others made Violet smile about how surprisingly sweet he was when he missed his old team. After betraying Silver's trust, the girls resumed to eating before trying every eatery they could try. Seeing them upon glance, Violet saw Sapphire and Remus having a good time as well. The two warriors in blue were connecting and a question came to Violet's mind.

"So, why did Sapphire take Remus away? Did she want this to be a date?" Violet asked curious.

"No, she just wanted to have fun and Remus is her favorite member on your team. This is just friends hanging out," Hazel answered. Violet looked back to the duo looking at them in a new light, as friends.

"Besides, she's head over heels for your brother Bianca. It's actually getting annoying," Loden said a little exasperated showing this subject has come up quite often within the team.

"Really?" Violet said. She was hearing all this for the first time.

"Eh, good, he needs a girlfriend, it'll do Ghost some good to have a one. He'll stop pretending to be a lone wolf. If you guys can make it happen you have my seal of approval," Bianca said before returning to eating a cone of ice cream she bought while Cerise kind of squealed to herself about the two of them hooking up.

Over where Remus and Sapphire were, the duo were playing some of the carnival games. They were competing in a ring toss game and Sapphire was on a hot streak while Remus looked at the rings like they were defective.

"For once there's a game you can't automatically win," Sapphire teased her senior. Remus pouted but held no ill will over his losses, he just continued playing with her.

"This is so fun, I knew I'd have a good time with you," Sapphire said then out of the corner of her eye she saw Ghost, her crush, minding his own business. Smiling, she dragged Remus over to him to say hello.

"Hey Ghost, how are you doing?" Sapphire asked trying to sound and appear appealing. Remus waved at Ghost who looked at them both nonchalantly.

"Hey... what are you guys doing?" he asked, though he didn't really looking like he wanted to be bothered, but knew these two weren't the type to let up.

"Enjoying the festival!? Uh- want...want to join us?" Sapphire asked more flustered than she'd like to be. Remus wasn't really sure why she acted differently, but Ghost knew why.

"Can't, guard duty." Sapphire felt a little sad at the rejection.

Remus interjected. "That's not true. You don't have Purgatory on your arm so you're not guarding anything. You're secretly trying to have fun without losing your cool guy image."

Surprisingly, Remus was absolutely right and it frightened Ghost. "...Yeah, you got me," he said feeling his facade unraveled in seconds.

"Try some stuff with us, we're cool... well, Sapphire's pretty cool I don't know about me," Remus said and it made Sapphire feel better. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"...Alright sure, not like you'll leave me alone if I say no." Ghost finally gave in and got up to go to one of the game booths with them. Remus walked to join him when Sapphire pulled on his arm to get his attention.

"Thank you," she whispered before walking up to stand next Ghost and join in. Remus tilted his head, not sure why she thanked him, but let the question slide to join in on the fun. Despite his little retaliation earlier, Ghost can admit he was having fun with these two, he can admit it to himself at least.

The hours went by as the denizens of Fortuna enjoyed the festival. There wasn't any sign of negativity, proving it was a success and to make the night better, Clair de Lune Vantablack graced her people with her presence as she appeared on stage in a beautiful black dress. She announced how the reconstruction project has finally been completed and how it will help Fortuna grow in the future. Many people cheered and she felt happy that her people were happy with her as their monarch. She began to do what she already planned to do, sing for her people using Songstress to manipulate and hit the pleasure center in their brains, luckily for everyone there, she's doing this to make everyone happy, not for mind control like any evil person would. She sang and sang, soothing her people who stood in amazement and bliss as Clair's semblance entranced them all, the members of VRSZ, CLSH and Ghost were no exception. Clair continued her melodies for about two hours before she ceased to look at her people in a dream-like state of euphoria and she was glad she could bring this out of them. Clair finally stepped down to join her people in the festivities, sneaking to the front of several food stall lines and swiping food from grills while the people were still in their drunken stupor. Once everyone was back to normal, Clair acted like everything was fine and blended in with crowd as she joined Violet's group in sampling all the food at the food stalls.

 **Setting: VRSZ Base**

After taking pleasure in the grand festival for several hours, Team VRSZ slowly and tiredly sauntered back to their home. Completely drained, Zelts collapsed unto the couch choosing to sleep there. Silver made it farther, but eventually gave up and sat on the ground, leaning against the couch. Remus wasn't so fortunate as he fell face first onto the ground, completely asleep. Violet, their great leader, had the willpower to crawl all the way into her room then into her bed, too tired to change clothes. Everyone slept the rest of the night away with little difficulty while the festival was beginning to die down.

 **Morning**

The VRSZ base was silent as the residents were still in exact same spots they fell. Zelts slept soundly on the couch, Silver was leaning against it with droll running down his face, and Remus was still face down on the floor sleeping even though it looked uncomfortable. The first one to wake up was not the boys, but their leader Violet, who pushed herself off her bed despite wanting to sleep some more. She let out a loud yawn and stretched her arms.

"Mmmm...back to work."

She slowly took her time swapping her old clothes for cleaner ones and brushing her teeth to get the fusion of food from last night out of her breath the best she could. Feeling better and refreshed, Violet walked down stairs to see her boys exactly where she left them. She smiled at their accidental sleeping positions, making her feel better she made it to bed instead of dropping to the floor.

"Time to get up! Come on, no more slacking off on my watch!" she shouted to rouse them from sleep.

Zelts got up from the couch with relative ease, but still felt groggy. Silver wasn't as fortunate as his back was quite sore when he attempted to get on his feet. Remus was in the worst position of all as his entire body hurt from sleeping on the floor with his head turned. There was a horrible crick in his neck and his body felt just as bad but Violet didn't care about their discomfort.

"Break time is over boys, time to get back to work. If you want breakfast you better find something in the fridge."

With all the fun and games done it was back to the routine they remembered from when they first started as a team. Stronger in strength and stronger bonds, Team VRSZ was officially back for more.

 **Setting: Clair's Office**

Clair was at her desk working, as elegant and pristine as ever like the massive festival last night never happened. She kept the rumor that she was forever beautiful circulating with her appearance and the fact she was doing work so diligently made her seem almost otherworldly. Thanks to Fortuna's reconstruction project being completed, Clair's work was cut in half, meaning she finally had the opportunity to step away from her desk and enjoy a leisurely stroll down her town-city like she used to.

 _"Maybe I'll swing by VRSZ and how my Wal- I mean how Violet is doing after last night's spectacle. I hope I don't find her in an embarrassing situation,"_ she thought but the tricky smile on her face suggested otherwise.

She was almost out of her seat until she heard the chime on her scroll. Sitting back down, the monarch opened her device to see she received a text message. She was about to open, but she halted her finger when she saw the name of the sender. Clair's face showed disgust before pressing on the screen to display the full text.

 _'Hey cuz, it's me! Wanted to see how you were doing. As you can tell I'm sucking up to you by using real words in text like you prefer. Anyway, wanted to let you know I'm coming to Fortuna! To see my big cousin and how she runs her playground... also I'm being sent there as punishment, something about being responsible, less frivolous, and I was told to do so with you as my role model. Just a load of bull if you ask me but I thought this could be an excuse to go on vacation. So I'll be hanging out at your place for some time and you tell the other Vantz to get off my back. Your loving cousin, C.P. Vantablack.'_

 _'P.S. Tell uncle Sterling I'll be coming and I can't wait to finally meet our faunus cousin. Don't worry I'll make a good first impression.'_

Clair de Lune Vantablack had a look on her face that made it seem like she had a headache, though she could actually have one after reading a message from _him_. She stayed in her chair as she digested this new information. Her beautiful face now held an expression of exasperation and she said something very out of character for her.

"Son of a bitch."

* * *

 **Fun Facts**

 **Onyx Vantablack** : The young faunus has grown to be a mechanic and inventor that has helped Fortuna's progress during the reconstruction project. Under Sterling's care he has grown into a gentleman, but when it comes to girls he is still a bumbling fool though to a lesser degree than he was before. His choice of clothing hasn't changed but he is a little taller so people do see a change. Right now he is fourteen years old and through the passage of time he and Hazel have developed a friendship over tinkering with machinery.

 **Sterling Vantablack** : Despite all the changes in Fortuna, Sterling remained the proprietor of Moneta. He believes Clair has done well enough on her own when it comes to ruling. There is no real change to the old man not even in his hair has shown any shades of grey even at 56 years old because the Vantablack family is known for their hair for never losing its black color no matter how much they age meaning Clair and Onyx will look great when they age.

 **Even after all this time, Violet is still underestimated by foes when compared to her teammates, but she doesn't let that get her down. In fact, she revels in surprising and humiliating those who have those thoughts but, she sees how people can come to this assumption. Seeing a lone girl on a team is uncommon and even more so when she is the leader. Speaking of leaders, many people sometimes mistake Remus as the leader because of the stereotype that leaders and heroes carry swords.**


	9. Not A Man's World Part 1

**Setting: Desert**

Team VRSZ were in their car, driving in the desert to the location given to them by their current employer, Clair de Luna Vantablack, for a task she hired them to complete. Usually they would take whatever mission was in Moneta to make money and they'd be fine with that, but this was the first time they were officially appointed as freelancers to take a job, though the conversation about the job was odd and they all knew it.

"...Sooooooo are we gonna talk about this job? Or about Clair?" Silver asked, talking over the radio so the others could hear him.

"What's there to talk about, we know our objective," Zelts answered.

"Clair has a friend , a fellow leader in a town, who asked for her assistance on some matter and she asked us to go there and complete the task in her name. Nothing really out of the ordinary." Violet answered while she drove through the sands.

"Really? What about Clair's behavior? It was stranger than usual," Silver countered.

"Oh good, I thought I was the only one that noticed," Remus interjected, taking his eyes off the scenery to join in.

Silver just motioned his hands towards him in a 'See, even _Remus_ noticed' motion.

"It did seem like Clair placed this mission on us and escorted us out of Fortuna quite hastily. Usually she likes to play around, but it was like she didn't want us in Fortuna, like she trying to protect us from something," Zelts said, recalling her behavior.

"I'm guessing something urgent has come up just as her friend asked for help and she needs us to do this while she does the other thing," Violet guessed, not really caring why her friend was in a rush, suspecting it was part of being a monarch.

"So we go to this place, complete the objective and go home. Doesn't sound hard," Remus added.

"In simple terms yes, but we'll have a better understanding of what we need to do when we talk to Clair's friend. She said that her friend, Saffron, is a monarch in a town a fair distance away, but we should be there within the hour. The place is called Virago," Violet explained keeping her eyes on the desert as she drove.

"Are we there yet?" Silver complained but was ignored.

 **Setting: Virago**

The team drove until they made it to their supposed destination, Virago, a town with several makeshift buildings made from scrap metal and stone. There were no pavements or sidewalks like Fortuna, showing how less advanced it was, but the people didn't mind or care. There were also many large tents that could fit two families and the one building that stood out was a large one made entirely of stone.

"I'm guessing that's where we go," Zelts said as Violet parked her car outside the town.

The team walked into town to make their way to the large structure while observing everything about Virago. As they continued they noticed the townspeople walking by, but two things really stood out. The first was they were all staring at Team VRSZ like they were aliens from a far off world, but they were outsiders that strolled into town. The second, and most important, the citizens were mostly, if not all women. Strong, muscular, determined women who looked at VRSZ with disgust, or more precisely, at Remus, Silver, and Zelts. It didn't make Violet feel comfortable either because they looked ready to attack her boys and she would defend them if need be.

"This is awkward," Zelts commented when they were almost at the large building.

"Usually I don't mind having women stare at me, but not like this," Silver boasted, but once again his friends ignored him.

They were outside the building's door and Zelts was the first to open it but Violet put her hand in front of him to stop him. He looked at wonder why she stopped him and she answered by pointing to a sign next to the door that read: 'No Men Allowed Without A Collar'

"What does that mean?" Remus asked, but none of them could give him an answer.

"The hell is with this place?" Silver said rather loudly that the women around them could hear and they gained some onlookers.

"I think it might be best if you go inside on your own as Clair's representative," Zelts said, speaking to Violet. She was reluctant to go in, but thought if they were going to work here then they had to follow the rules of Virago.

"Fine, I'll go on ahead and meet with Saffron, maybe get a better understanding of the Virago's laws. Stay here and DON'T get into trouble," she ordered her boys, but looked directly at Silver when she said that. He pouted at the accusation, but they all knew she was right, unbound, he'd bring chaos.

Violet walked inside and the building had an eloquent interior. Very similar to Concordia but a one story building. There were people, women, walking around doing work but something else caught her eye and it shocked her greatly. She finally saw men and just like the sign on the door said, they were wearing collars, leashes, and tunics with the women holding the other ends. She found some women giving the men orders to do things and they did so without any complaints. It made one thing clear: This was a town where women run everything and men were subservient.

"You must be Violet, Clair sent you yes?" a voice said.

Violet turned to the direction of the voice and saw a woman with long gold brown hair and matching brown eyes. She was definitely above average height, but muscular as she wore an attire that was difficult to describe, it was a combination of regular clothing and armor that made some kind of battle ready outfit that could be worn for everyday life and for combat. She was definitely older than Violet and possibly Clair as well, meaning this person was in her late twenties. Seeing as this woman approached her, Violet had a good idea of her name.

"Saffron? Monarch of Virago?" she asked instead of stated so she would sound rude. Her suspicions were answered when Saffron nodded.

"I'm glad you made it here- though Clair did say you were coming with a team. Where's the rest of them?" Saffron asked.

Outside the building Silver was crouching by the building while Zelts and Remus stood by feeling embarrassed.

"Silver give me back Romulus," Remus semi-whined as Silver used the blade to try and pierce the wall in order to peek into the building.

"Not until I get a good look inside," Silver said, in a serious tone with a side of impish behavior wanting to see a building full of ladies.

"This is so junior high," Zelts commented looking away but standing in front of Silver so the residents don't see and cause a scene.

"What do we know? None of us ever went to school," Silver said, piercing through and making a small enough hole he could see through.

Right when he was about to peek through, Violet came through the doors along with Saffron, startling Silver and making him fall over. Violet only saw him fall and thought he was just being his usual stupid self. _"Idiot, we're on a job,"_ she thought.

"I see, Clair never mentioned you're a mixed gendered team. Virago's a matriarchy where women do mostly everything and men are just our commodities who serve lesser roles. I understand this is different around the world but my people are different. While you are here they will see them as your personal belongings, even if it's not true you must play along," Saffron explained surprising everyone.

"That's... unique," Zelts said trying to muster a compliment. Remus remained silent as he didn't seem bothered by this like most things that shock normal people.

"I'm no one's pet and I'm not wearing a collar," Silver said defiantly.

"You may not have a choice in the matter. When I asked Clair for help she said you'll listen to my demands and she said this mission will be done discreetly so it's mandatory," Saffron stated silencing Silver since this was a job.

Violet turned to Silver with a crooked smile. "This could be fun."

 _"For you maybe. This is gonna suck,"_ Silver and Zelts thought simultaneously.

"So, this favor you asked Clair about that we have to do, what is it?" Violet asked for her team, seeing as Saffron may only answer her.

"As you know, a great tragedy befell Beacon Academy recently and because of that trading dust and other goods has been strictly prohibited so our resources are cut down drastically. Clair de Lune Vantablack didn't care and sees us as neighbors and allies. She's sent us supplies whenever we needed support, but now it's different. We found an untouched source of dust crystals that we plan to collect, but with this place being Vacuo, we're bound to encounter thieves and bounty hunters hired by others to reap our rewards, that's where you guys come in."

"You want us to guard your people while they excavate the dust mound correct?" Violet asked and Saffron nodded.

"Yes, but you'll do so posing a new residence helping out the operation with your... new accessories," Saffron instructed much to Silver's dismay at being called an accessory.

"You're the client and we're representing our friend as well, so we'll play by your rules," Violet said and Saffron was glad.

"Thank you, the excavation is later today, so in the meantime, enjoy Virago. Oh, and if they're going walk around, then they have to have collars and can only go where you go," she informed. Saffron went back into the building to continue with her work.

"This sucks so hard," Silver griped.

"This is our first job as freelancers, we're in a new place with a different culture. I think this could be fun," Violet said.

"We are in a village where women are in charge of everything and men are... in lower positions. It is a lot to take in and will be difficult for us to adapt, but think of it as taking orders from Violet in battle like we always do," Zelts told Silver who grumbled in agreement.

"You understand so far Remus?" Zelts asked his younger friend.

"We do what Violet says, not really different from what we usually do," he said, not really upset about this like Silver. Even after learning from Lupa, he still missed some social things like how uncommon Virago's customs were, which didn't faze him.

"You should be used to this Silver, after all, you're the most accustomed to taking orders from women," Violet teased. Silver was about to retaliate, but noticed that they were gaining the attention of Virago's residence and it wasn't any positive looks either. Not wanting to cause a scene and get them exposed as an outside source, Silver kept quiet.

"I'm liking this already. Now we just need you guys to look the part." Violet looked around for a building that sells those collars for her boys. Browsing the town for a shop, Violet's face had a crooked smile on it, laughing on the inside about the predicament of her boys.

 _"I don't know why Clair sent us here in a mad dash but I might have to thank her because this is too fun,"_ she thought while giggling which Silver and Zelts heard and didn't like what kind of thoughts their leader, now master, was thinking.


	10. Not A Man's World Part 2

**Setting: Virago**

Remus Cobalt, Silver Synch, Zelts Allister, members of Team VRSZ, freelancers, each powerful in their own right, now wearing collars and reduced to Violet's personal pets in Virago. Silver pulled at the absurd thing around his neck with a disgruntled look. Zelts didn't bother with his collar, but he wasn't happy about wearing it either and Remus... was Remus. He didn't seem to care about wearing it for the mission but he still pulled on it since he knew it was there.

"Now, don't my boys handsome?" Violet said loving the facade bit too much.

"Yes they do, will that be all?" a store clerk asked as she began to rang up the price as Violet nodded. "I must say, you must be one of Virago's wealthiest newcomers. Not many people have three men under their authority and with their own clothing instead of the generic tunics." The clerk was very impressed by Violet's supposed social status in Virago. Silver grumbled, cursing under his breath, but Zelts elbowed him to keep him quiet.

"Really? I had no idea. I guess I do spoil them some, they're just so good to me," Violet said complimenting them to sort of make up for their predicament. She paid for the collars and left the store with her boys forced to walk a few feet behind her.

"How much longer till the stupid excavation starts?" Silver complained while walking.

"Not long, in a few hours. We'll join as a volunteer group to guard the perimeter. Once we start the mission you can drop this charade and run wild until we report back." Violet answered and the idea of fighting did bring a temporary smile back to Silver's face. "How are you two handling this?" Violet asked Zelts and Remus.

"I'm fine," Remus answered.

"Same here, no complaints," Zelts said.

"Why can't you be professional like them?" she complained to Silver who just made a face at her. "Come on, let's get something to eat. It'll kill the time."

Violet guided her team to a building that served food for both women and men though they ordered food and sat in separate areas, even the chefs were different, a woman serving the female customers food and a man serving the male customers food that was less than stellar compared to what the women were given. Violet walked to her line while the others went to theirs, waiting for their food then sitting down at a very large table where every customer sat.

At the women's table with several other women who were conversing one another, probably the purpose of having one extremely large table. Violet sat and minded her own business while she ate, but being new in town with three boys under her authority didn't let her fly under the radar like she wanted

"Hey," one of the women said to her. "you're the new girl with those guys right?"

Seeing no way around a conversation, Violet answered with a nod. The young woman extended her hand and Violet took it and shook. "Violet."

"Carmine, nice to meet you," the short red haired girl said with a smile and Violet did the same not seeing her as any kind of threat.

"What are you guys doing in Virago, some business?"

"Yeah, my boys and I are going to volunteer to help with the dust excavation later today. Hoping to get some Lien while we're passing through," Violet said not really lying but being vague.

"Wow, so their purpose is for combat? Don't see many people with those types around often."

"What do you mean by type?" Violet asked.

"In Virago, men under the authority of women are usually given types or labels by their owners to determine what kind of tasks they do. Some cook, clean, breeding and sexual pleasure-" Violet nearly choked when she heard that one.

"and other things. Some are fighters but it's rare to see someone with three fighters." Carmine said fascinated by Violet.

"I guess, they do other things outside of fighting too."

"So they're jacks, jacks-of-all-trade?" Carmine asked.

"Yeah, though two of them are jacks and the other's just a jackass." Both girls laughed at her joke.

"What do you think they're laughing about?" Zelts asked his friends while they ate.

"I don't know, but for some reason I feel like I just got insulted," Silver said eating his sandwich.

Remus was eating when he felt someone bump his arm with their elbow. He looked to his right to see a man in a tunic with a collar around his neck and unkempt hair. "You three belong to her, right? Man you guys are lucky, she has three of you, gives you guys your own clothes, and she's so beautiful." the said complimenting Violet as he looked at her.

"Yeah, Violet's the best." Remus said answering honestly with a beaming smile.

"...She even let's you call her by her first name? You guys have it made," the man said jealous of their supposed standing.

"Do you think she'll want another?" the man said having a terrible time trying to cover the hopefulness in his voice.

"Sorry, she isn't taking anyone else into her lap of luxury," Zelts interjected as he continued to eat. "Violet doesn't want anymore charges under her authority."

"Damn that's too bad. Wouldn't mind being a pleasure slave for her." When the man said that all the boys of VRSZ halted their movements. "She's missing out big time. Though with three men like you guys I'm sure she's gets a lot of action," the man continued with a disgusting smile.

Remus was the first to move, he reached for Romulus, but Zelts moved faster and held onto Remus' arm to restrain him, even though he wanted to do the same with the Heart of Gold on his back, he couldn't cause a scene, they all knew it. Remus slowly and reluctantly retracted his hand and finished the last of his food in anger. Silver held a scowl on his face because he couldn't defend his friend the way he wanted and because Violet told them to think of the mission and to be professional. The man continued eating unscathed while they didn't feel like eating anymore and they each had a sour look on their face.

Violet continued speaking with Carmine until her eyes landing on her boys who all looked distressed which concerned her. She thanked Carmine for her company and excused herself from the table to leave with her boys to find out what's got them all upset. She approached their table.

"Come on boys, let's go."

The man Remus was speaking to made a very inappropriate sound as he watched her walk away and they all heard it, but like before they did nothing. They were at the entrance with Violet and Silver noticed the unkempt man's leer the whole way there then he took note of the toothpick dispenser on the counter near the door. He took two and just as they all exited with him behind them all, he tossed the toothpicks at the man as he was reaching for his food. They landed on his hand and pierced his skin causing him to scream out in pain just as they left.

"You guys okay? Never seen you any of you that down before. Almost thought you going to kill someone."

"...It's nothing," Zelts said though he still wasn't happy. None of the others would speak either so Violet had to be satisfied with that for now. Suddenly, her scroll went off and she checked it.

"Let's go, Saffron just notified me that the excavation group is beginning to move out in an hour and recruitment for bodyguards just started the dust shop is where it's happening so that's where we're going."

"You got it boss," Silver said rather composed compared to how he was before coming here. It surprised Violet that a meal was what he needed out of his grumpy behavior.

 **Setting: Virago Dust Shop**

VRSZ arrived to see a lot of women, most likely the dust shop employees, gathering supplies, putting up camping equipment along with some camping gear, and some tools to excavate and collect dust crystals. There weren't many people signing up to be body guards, just three residents.

"Looks like we'll be working double time. Thought a few more people would help out," Silver said looking at everything while Violet signed herself in. Just as she did, she saw the dust shop employees packing the last of their stuff and noticed one in particular, Carmine, helping the other workers, her colleagues, finish packing. Not wanting to deter her from work, Violet went back to her team.

 **Setting: Desert**

Carmine and her colleagues went to the large mound of dust crystals they planned to excavate and all the members of the volunteer security force divided to guard different locations. Seeing as Violet brought her boys, Carmine suggested they secure the area where bandits, thieves, smugglers, and other hired muscle commonly use. Their mission: To make sure no one outside the Virago dust workers make it past this point until the mining is complete. The area VRSZ had to patrol was just desert a good distance away from the mining that one didn't distract the other. Violet scanned the area to see what they could use to their advantage but this being a desert, she could come up with only one word to describe their setting.

"Nothing here," she said then she had an idea accompanied with a smile. "We can fix that. Silver."

Using her Chesire's Enigmas with earth dust and Silver's Cerberus with earth bullets, they fired on the ground erecting large tall pillars of stone that towered the area and served as a natural barrier and vantage points. After creating the stones, Violet told Silver and Remus to get to the top and watch out for enemies since Remus can see a great distance away with his bionic eye as well as Silver who can shot targets with his sharpshooting skills.

Carmine and the other miners never mentioned how long the dust collecting would take, but since it's been two hours, Violet guessed it was going to take a while. Silver and Remus had yet to see a sign of thieves coming, but they did spot some stray Grimm that were wandering around so they shot down any that were moving too close or did it just for kicks.

While tugging on his collar, Silver spotted a Nevermore flying in the sky a good distance away and he fired one shot, killing it and watching it disintegrate before it touched the ground. He smiled cause now he killed more Grimm than Remus. "Hey look at that, I leveled up."

"Hey that's my thing!" Remus said angry that Silver stole his catch phrase.

"Then kill more Grimm, you're kind of slacking-" Silver said then head-shotted an unfortunate Ursa. "Level up."

"AARRRGGGHHHHH!"

"Boys, behave yourselves!" Violet shouted from below, but the distance between the ground and the top of the earth spire was too great and they probably didn't hear her words that well.

Next to her was Zelts leaning against the stone as he kept an eye on things in case those two overlooked something. He did notice something was moving beneath the sand and right towards them. Seeing this made Zelts feel like this kind of thing happened to him before. He split his Heart of Gold into wingblades and with one motion he swung them against the sands stirring a burst of wind that swept up the sand around them. His sudden action proved to confirm his suspicions as the body of someone emerged.

"Ugh, was hoping to slip by unnoticed, but I expect no less from VRSZ." the man said and he was a peculiar one indeed. He had a short brown mohawk, and a visor that conceal his eyes though one cold see a scar across the left side of his face. He wore a tan tank top and a pair of brown cargo pants that had some cybernetics on them but the thing that stood out the most were the extra limbs he had. On his left side were an arm would normally be were three mechanical ones in its place.

"The hell is that thing?" Violet asked grabbing her Enigmas.

"Whatever it is, it knows us."

"Usually I'd be upset, but now that I look like this I can understand your confusion. It's me Buff," he said full of himself waiting for their shocked reaction that their long time foe has returned.

"... Who is this?" Violet asked surprising Buff, but this is the first time they've met. He thought Zelts would at least inform her of his presence.

"I don't know." Zelts responded angering Buff that they still don't remember him.

"DAMMIT YOU-" his rampage cut short by a bolt of energy hitting him from above and blasting him a few feet away.

"Got him!" Remus shouted, but Buff got up immediately.

"I'm not going down like that! I came here for dust and I'm getting it!" He aimed his three new appendages at Remus and Silver and he fired three red lasers at them only for them to dodge by jumping to a new stone. Silver quickly retaliated by shooting several rounds of ice dust at the rogue but Buff blocked using his arms which were frozen but with a quick flex he broke through the ice unscathed.

Zelts charged in to ram Buff, but he used his arms to block and have them pressed against the shield as Zelts continued with his attack. Buff held his own, but whether he wanted to or not, he was moving across the sand due to Zelts' superior strength. To stop his attack, Buff fired his laser blast from his palms and the force threw Zelts off balance and stopped his charging. Unbeknownst to Buff, Violet was behind him this whole time using Invisibility to remain undetected. She did a sweeping kick to knock him off balance and out of nowhere Remus teleported in with Checkpoint to Buff's backside and launched a strong kick to it, propelling the rogue a few feet away. Buff got back up more irritated than hurt. Zelts stepped in and had a bout with the thief and before Violet could join the fray, Remus held her back.

"Silver and I saw others coming, too much for us to focus one at a time," he informed her and Violet gave her team new orders.

"Divide and conquer!"

Zelts stayed on Buff as they were currently in a stalemate. There was a horde of common bandits coming to take the dust for themselves and Silver took it upon himself to deal with them. Violet told Remus to help him as a stray in the pack was heading toward her specifically. And in an instant, something was headed right toward her. Violet narrowly dodged the object and saw it was a sword, a mechanical broadsword with a segmented chain attached to it, a weapon Violet has seen before. On the other end of the chain was the wielder, coming in from the air as the chain retracted. Violet moved a safe distance away as the wielder picked up his sword.

The wielder was a young man wearing a black body suit beneath grayish-silver light armor plated on his upper body and on his legs with armored boots along with a dark green jacket that he wore kind of like a cape. He had short gray hair, dark green eyes, and a scar running along his jaw. He looked at Violet with a smirk.

"Long time no see little girl. Missed you," he said in a disrespectful tone.

"Grayson, it has been some time, unfortunately I don't feel the same as you. I'm not fond of the times you tried to kill me for my bounty, speaking of bounties, you're probably here under someone's contract to steal the dust right?"

"I always do what I can to complete my tasks.," he said gripping his broadsword but his remark made Violet grin.

"Really? Tough talk for a guy who couldn't take down a girl before bounty went away," Violet jested and the smirk on Grayson's face was replaced with a small frown.

"Maybe if I kill you here someone will still pay a lot for your old bounty? "Shall we test that?" Grayson said with sword in hand as he made his way to Violet.

* * *

 **Fun Facts**

 **This section will include not only facts about the VRSZ story but also things that the characters do off-page (off-screen) as they live their lives. For example, Team VRSZ sometimes play each other in basketball when they have free time and they allow the use of their semblances to make it more fun. Another is that Zelts has taken up meditation during his travels with Lily and does it in the base though he was never stressed out to begin with but finds it calming, however Remus and Silver's antics around the base prove to be distracting.**

 **Silver views Team VRSZ as his family, thinking of Violet as his sister and Remus and Zelts as his brothers. Since he sees them as family, Silver sees Ghost as his best friend and even if the other doesn't want to admit it, he thinks the same of Silver.**

 **Carmine works at Virago's dust shop and helps find dust sources. Her name means crimson.**

 **Grayson is a mercenary that has been one of the people that were after Violet during the time her bounty was still active though he's done it more than most. The scar on his face was caused by Violet and left several on her. His weapon is a grapple sword, Grayson can throw it anywhere and the segmented chain can extend and retract to bring him to the location of his sword. It is a model similar to Blake's weapon but his is more for quick escapes rather than combat. Personality wise Violet says he's more of a jackass than Silver and that's says a lot. He is twenty two years old.**

 **Buff has been a recurring enemy for VRSZ though he has been a C-class foe all this time and another recurring thing is that despite their encounters on and off-page, VRSZ never remembers him. During the timeskip, Buff lost his arm and replaced it with three cybernetic ones that he uses to fight, replacing the Grimm exo-suits he used to use in battle. He's actually more formidable now than before but whether Team VRSZ will remember him is a mystery.**


	11. The First Mission

**Setting: Desert**

Zelts unleashed a blast of wind that pushed Buff into an earthen spire. It wasn't enough to keep the man down despite the long battle depleting his aura level after their long bout. Buff fired lasers from the palm of all his mechanical arms at Zelts, but he reacted by splitting the Heart of Gold, using one half to defend himself from the blasts and when it was over, he immediately threw the other half with a flick of the wrist so it twirled, gaining wind as it kept going until it reached its mark. With his aura no longer protecting him, the blade cut through two of Buff's three robot arms before it cut into the stone behind him. Buff felt no pain, but he knew that it was best for him to retreat and he did, grabbing his chopped off limbs before leaving while grunting his frustrations.

With his battle over, Zelts went to join his friends in battle. He noticed that Violet was facing someone formidable on her own and knew she needed help, but he was the best one to deal with fighting a large group of enemies, so he would trade places with the others, but not wanting to feel like he abandoned his leader, Zelts launched a gust of wind at Grayson, sending him back a few feet. Violet expressed her gratitude before going after her adversary because she knew that wasn't enough to stop his annoying persistence.

While he got up, Violet grabbed an Enigma and threw it at him, but Grayson dodged the knife as it hit the ground behind him and let out a surge of lightning. Wanting a vantage point, Grayson threw his sword to the top of a column and quickly moved to it, but not before grabbing a dust bomb from his belt and dropping it on Violet which exploded on top of her, consuming the area in a fiery blaze. Grayson looked from above to see his handy work, but all he saw was burnt sand. On top another spire, a puff of smoke appeared out of nowhere, revealing Violet, safe and sound, along with Remus who held her arm to teleport her with Checkpoint. She avoided the blast, but Remus wasn't as fortunate as he shielded Violet before teleporting out of harm's way, his aura took a hit.

"Thank you Remus," she said gratefully. Remus smiled at her as his response.

She looked to Grayson who seemed upset with her gaining assistance. She looked to his scowl then Remus' face and smiled. "Grayson, this battle and any future ones we have will be different from our previous ones. This time, I'm not alone, remember that," she declared, still smiling.

"Remus, **Cloak and Dagger** like the good old days!"

The moment she said that a cloud of smoke engulfed them both. Grayson couldn't see through the smokescreen, but sensed a presence above him and he was right, Remus was above him with Romulus drawn in double bladed staff form to slash him, but Grayson barely got out of the way. With his grapple sword, he fought Remus on the foothold as Silver and Zelts battled the small army of thieves, well, Zelts blew them all away and Silver picked off any stragglers trying to sneak through to the mining spot. Zelts was in the moment as he used his shield to break a part of a spire and let Silver takeover. With Gravity, Silver climbed an adjacent column before jumping off the side to slam into the side of the nearly toppled one, altering its gravity on impact and making it finally break and fall over, crushing multiple bandits underneath.

"Timber," Silver said, standing above the rubble and bandits before going after the others with Zelts.

Elsewhere, Grayson did his best to hold his own against Remus, but like all his battles, the longer the fight goes on, the faster he gets. Beginning to feel overwhelmed, he was about to let loose another fire dust bomb to damage and distract Remus, but when he reached for one, he felt something grab his arm. Looking back, he saw nothing but knew it was Violet using her semblance. An instant away from Remus proved to be unwise as he struck Grayson twice with his bladed staff and Violet reappeared then swiftly kicked him three times in the chest before delivering a stronger one that pushed him off the top of the spire and damaged his aura.

"We did it!"

"No we didn't," Violet countered as she looked to the edge and saw Grayson's grapple sword lodged into another column as the wielder swung around it before dislodging his sword and landed on the ground. Just then, they noticed behind them was a fire dust bomb Grayson managed to drop without them knowing.

"Ah dammit, I freaking hate that guy," Violet said as it detonated, blowing up the top of the column with Violet and Remus teleporting safely to the ground.

"Tch. He's tougher than I thought," Grayson said, showing he wasn't fond of Remus' interference.

He moved in to attack just as they landed. He kicked Remus in the face then slashed him with his sword before either he or Violet could react. He jumped onto Remus' chest and pushed off to jump a distance away from Violet before she could retaliate and knock Remus back a few feet. Remus laid on the ground before sitting up only to see two dust bombs in front of him and in an instant they released a powerful burst of lightning that consumed the area, fortunately, Remus used Checkpoint for a fast getaway. Angered, Violet grabbed her daggers to attack Grayson, but he jumped away and threw his grapple sword into a far off column that he could swing from to get away and, more importantly, slip past Violet to go straight for the excavation site. His plan was successful so far, then all of a sudden, the stone column fell along with the grapple sword pulling Grayson with it as he fell to into the sand, then tumbled around the fallen column's debris. Looking up, Grayson could see Silver and Zelts standing near the wreckage not letting him pass. Glaring at them, he finally noticed they were wearing collars. He suppressed a few laughs before getting up.

"Now I see, you guys are her pets," he said no longer keeping his laughter in check.

Not amused by his rudeness, Silver jumped over him and tried to kick him in the back of the head, but Grayson blocked it with his broadsword. Silver was in the mood to shoot him full of holes but, he pretty much used all his ammo against the army of thieves he fought earlier. Before Grayson could retaliate, Zelts moved in without being noticed and swung his blades to blast Grayson with a gust of wind, knocking him back. Just as he got back on his feet, he saw Violet and Remus stand with their other teammates, analyzing the battle was no longer in his favor and with Remus' semblance, getting past them was next to impossible.

"Well, that's a shame. Looks like I'm beat. I thought hiring those thugs would be a good diversion, then I saw you Vi and... what can I say, old habits die hard," Grayson said, raising his hands to show he surrendered. The moment he did this, a flare went up into the sky from the mining site, it served as a signal to everyone that the excavation has been completed.

"Man, my job was a complete failure, no money for dinner tonight. Seeing as how both our jobs as bounty hunters is done, let's end it here Vi, truce?" He spoke like everything before now didn't happen.

"We're not bounty hunters, we're freelancers here on official business. And the thought of letting you leave unscathed doesn't really sit well with me. If I haven't made it clear in the past, I really don't like you." Violet threw an Enigma with purple dust in the grip in front of him, her new gravity dust inspired by Silver.

It activated and it covered the knife with a strong gravitational pull that drew Grayson closer to it. Not only him but the rubble from the fallen column began to move in around Grayson and so did big boulders that slammed into him making their way to the knife positioned so close to the mercenary. Eventually, he was imprisoned in stone, unable to move until the dust in the knife was used up. Violet walked away, telling her team to forget him as they rendezvous with Carmine and the other employees, leaving Grayson to be momentarily trapped in his rocky tomb.

 **Setting: Virago**

Team VRSZ returned to the matriarch town with Carmine and the dust miners. With their first mission as freelancers completed, they reported back to Saffron along with Carmine who did the same about the excavation. Actually, Violet and Carmine went into town hall while the guys stayed outside, using this time to drop their personas as Violet's property by removing their collars. Silver took his off and twirled it on his finger in one hand while he felt his neck with the other.

"Glaaad this mission's over. Can't wait to get rid of these."

"Wasn't as bad as you made it out to be, complaining only makes it worse, but yeah, I'm ready to let these things go," Zelts confided while holding his with a loose grip.

"It didn't seem all that bad," Remus said, tossing his up and down.

"That's cause you're oblivious," Silver insulted, not noticing Violet was already outside when he said that.

"Or maybe he's thinks of the importance of the mission over griping. He's professional like that," Violet added teasingly.

"Tch. I'm professional."

"A professional jackass," Violet and Zelts said at the same time. Everyone was surprised by what he said, even Remus looked at his friend with a look of astonishment.

"...What? I made a guess on what she was going to say next... I got it right."

"Anyway, Saffron is happy that we kept her people safe, she said as fellow friends of Clair, we are always welcomed here."

"Do we have to wear the collars again ?" Silver asked, not masking his displeasure.

"No, but I'm keeping them."

"Why? We won't be posing as citizens," Zelts asked this time.

"I like them, they'll always remind me of our first official mission as freelancers," she said sweetly. "And if needed, I can use them to rein you three in if any of you misbehave" she said with mischief.

"There it is." Silver knew she was going to say that. "Can we go? I've had enough of this place."

"Sure you big baby, I said my goodbyes to Saffron and Carmine so yes we can go," Violet said, leading her boys back to their car.

On the way back, Remus noticed a woman walking by and behind her was the man who said those rude things about Violet in the restaurant. His hand was bandaged after Silver stabbed him with those toothpicks, but his behavior didn't seem to change at all. When Violet walked by he stared at her with a sickening look and a repulsive smile. No one but Remus seemed to pay him any mind based on how he passed Silver and Zelts unharmed, Remus however, was still upset about what he said about his leader and friend. As they walked by, Remus swiftly threw a kick right at the man's knee, a very strong kick that actually dislocated the sleazy man's knee. He fell to the ground screaming in pain. His female handler stopped and panicked from the sudden tragedy, even Violet and the others stopped to look back.

"What happened to him?" Violet asked, but Remus walked on like nothing happened.

"I don't know, but we got to get home and report to Clair." This was the first time in his life that Remus has ever lied. Let's hope it doesn't become a habit.

Violet was going to see if the man was okay, but Remus walked ahead and the handler went to get help so she decided to continue on to the car. Silver glanced at the guy and smirked while Zelts showed little empathy as they pressed on. With their first mission as freelancers successful, Team VRSZ headed back to Fortuna to report to Clair.

 **Setting: Desert**

Back where the battle took place the stone prison Violet created began to move until an arm covered in dust and sand popped out. Eventually, Grayson was able to push his whole body out of the rocks then fell to his hands and knees due to fatigue and how numb his body felt from his uncomfortable position inside. He coughed the dirt out of his mouth while he thought about how humiliating his defeat was.

 _"If that unruly bitch was by herself it would've gone differently,"_ he thought upset with what happened. After his complaint he remembered what Violet said when Remus interfered.

 _"Grayson, this battle and any future ones we have will be different from our previous ones. This time, I'm not alone, remember that,"_

He was angry, but his expression changed to a evil grin. "You're right Violet, the battles between us will definitely be different from now on. Count on it."

* * *

 **Fun Facts**

 **Grayson is going to be a proper rival/antagonist for Team VRSZ, specifically Violet. He's a mercenary that will clash with the team on some future missions. His method of bounty hunting is the reason he will be an interesting rival for the team. For some missions he can't do alone, he'll pay some fellow bounty hunters or local sellswords to help and offer them a piece of the reward. Those who prove useful he'll pay and use again, but those who don't will meet the end of his grapple sword. Grayson will be an intriguing enemy because his team will change each time.**

 **Grayson's semblance is Vitality, the ability to survive. This semblance is good for a mercenary like Grayson who moves around Remnant. It allows him to survive in harsh climates like the deserts of Vacuo or the tundras of Atlas. He can even go for days without food or water longer than others, but he's still human, so he'll last longer but will eventually die. His semblance isn't immortality just survival, but he is harder to kill which is why Violet had some many run-ins with him before and it's also the reason he chose the life of a merc, more expense.**


	12. Everybody Hates Copper

**Setting: Concordia**

It was late in the evening when Team VRSZ walked up the building to the floor where Clair's office/home to let her know that they completed their mission and to pay them. When Violet made it to the door she opened it, but her familiarity with Clair made her forget to knock because she heard a voice she never heard before from the other side. It was too late to stop because she already opened the door and just as she predicted, Clair was at her desk speaking to someone but something about the atmosphere seemed off. It wasn't a serious atmosphere one would expect from a business meeting nor was it the playful one Clair has with people she's fond of, right now, for some unknown reason, the atmosphere could only be described using one word; stupid.

Violet could see Clair had a look of exasperation that she has never seen before. The person she was talking to turned around and Violet could see he was not a stuffy business person but a young man, about her age if not older. He wore a black casual blazer jacket above a violet-blue t-shirt with tan cargo shorts and light blue loafers. He also had a pair of sunglasses on his head but the one thing that Violet took note of was his black hair, the same blacker than night shade that Clair, Sterling, and Onyx had. The young man looked Violet up and down with a smile which unnerved her.

"Damn cuz, who's your hot friend," the man said with a grin as he walked up to Violet, who had a face of surprise and irritation. Her team seemed to feel the same but mostly surprised. He stood in her personal space, inches away from her peeved face.

"Hey baby, did you know kissing burns 5 calories a minute? How about you and I do a two hour workout?" the man said with a confident grin, but everyone else was shocked, except Clair who looked down with a hand to her head in disappointment and Violet who looked at him with a blank face. Then out of nowhere, Violet kicked the temple of his head and slammed him into the wall, stunning everyone again, then walked up to Clair like what just happened didn't happen.

"The mission was a success and Saffron sends her regards," Violet said formally and Clair gave her the envelope with Team VRSZ's pay.

"Thank you Violet, I'm glad everything was handled. It was wise to send in freelancers for this request. Now that business is done do you have any question? Though, I can probably guess one," she said looking at the man getting up unharmed.

"Damn I like a wild girl like her! " the young man said getting back on his feet. "Am I right?" he said to Zelts, resting his arm on Zelts' shoulder, but Zelts just moved his shoulder so they weren't touching anymore.

"Who the hell is that... idiot?" Violet asked, choosing her words carefully in case he was actually close to Clair, but spoke like the person in question wasn't in the room.

She let out a loud unbecoming sigh before answering. "That is Copper Periwinkle Vantablack, my cousin who will be staying here for... who knows how long. Please, put up with him," she pleaded though she didn't seem to mind her cousin getting injured like that.

"That is by far the dumbest name I've ever heard." Silver didn't care if Copper heard him which he did.

"Yeah? Well you got the dumbest hair I've ever seen," Copper retorted, earning a giggle from Zelts who thought the same thing the first time he met Silver but never said it aloud. Silver glared at Zelts for laughing.

"I take it this was the reason you sent us away," Silver stated more than asked and Clair who nodded.

"Unfortunately, that is true Silver. I didn't think it would be wise for you guys to meet, but his intention to stay here meant it was inevitable. So I apologize, for now and any future occurrences," she said already feeling responsible for her slightly younger cousin.

"Come on Moonlight, don't speak as if I'm not here. That hurts my feelings," Copper said, calling his cousin by the nickname he made up when they were children. Even though he said his feelings were hurt, it was obvious it didn't bother him in the slightest.

"Lucky for you we're leaving," Silver said for his team as he walked to the door. When he moved to open it, the door opened from the other side to reveal Bianca. Silver blushed and failed to even say hello, instead, he just stepped aside like a gentleman to let her in. She smiled as she pass but it fell when she saw Copper. He approached her and did the same thing he did with Violet.

"Glad I got to see you again angel."

When he said that Silver froze in place. "Does Concordia have a research room nearby, or am I sensing some chemistry between us?" he said and Silver reached for Cerberus ready to let loose, but Violet swiftly walked to him. She put a hand to his back and guided him out of the room.

"Till next time Clair. Maybe we can hang out later on," she said before leaving with her team.

She closed the door and noticed Silver pouting. "Relax Romeo, you have nothing to worry about," she said comforting him. Before he could say anything, they all heard a loud thud and Cooper yelping in pain.

"I'm positive," she smiled and he smiled as well. "Let's go, as a reward for a successful first mission, we're eating at Edesia."

"Ha ha, now you're talking," Silver said in an upbeat tone as he started walking to the elevator.

"Remus you haven't said anything in a while, something on your mind?" Zelts asked as they walked.

"...I don't think I like Copper."

"Join the club, none of us like Copper," Violet said.

 **Setting: Edesia**

VRSZ sat a table waiting for their food to arrive. After that moment with Copper and more importantly the mission, Violet wanted to treat her team to fine dining without the need for Silver to cook. A fancy restaurant which she took them to before around the formation of Team VRSZ, making her feel nostalgic.

"This is very nice. A nice table, nice service..." Zelts complimented.

"All thanks to Silver working here in his free time. A functioning member of society, I must say you've become a semi-respectable citizen Silver. Never pegged you as the type," Violet said in good-humor.

"Underneath my gruff, roguish, bad boy exterior is a good guy. Enjoy the fruits of my labor cause the head chef this is a onetime thing," Silver said.

Violet remembered how she met Clair here for the first time and the impression she left on all of them. She really doubted if Copper could do the same.

"Hey VRSZ, what's up!" Copper yelled from across the room as he walked to the table.

"Oh what fresh hell is this?" Violet mumbled as she dipped her head in embarrassment. This was like a twisted version of how she met Clair.

"Why are you here Copper?" Violet asked exasperated.

Her boys seemed to show the same dislike she had for the guy and they weren't afraid to show it. Apparently the young man seemed unfazed by insults or injury meaning he thought very high of himself or he just too stupid to feel any kind of pain. Team VRSZ guessed the latter.

"I prefer if people call me C.P., but you can call me anything you like. Copper, C.P., Daddy-" before C.P. kept digging his own grave, Violet picked up a knife on the table and held it like an Enigma, signaling him to stop before he was carved like a turkey.

"And to answer your question, I came to get something to eat. Clair insisted I go to this place and try the food. Said it's a real popular joint and Angel agreed." C.P. grabbed a chair from nearby table and brought it to their table where he sat between Violet and Remus but he had his body turned to Violet.

Violet already guessed that Clair and Bianca wanted to get rid of him as they worked, unfortunately, they dropped him into team VRSZ's lap.

"So where are the menus?" he asked inching closer to Violet but she prodded him with the handle of her knife to push him back into place.

"We already ordered so-" Zelts was about to answer but C.P. interrupted by snapping his fingers at a nearby waiter.

"No problem I'll get one myself," he said as he told the waiter not only to bring them a menu but to bring everyone's food at the same time.

Not only did he prolong VRSZ's hunger, but they had to deal with him all through dinner time which wasn't helping with his popularity. Even Remus, who likes almost everyone, is getting annoyed by C.P. which is saying a lot.

For about an hour they waited for their food to get here, they suffered C.P.'s endless stories and Violet had the worst of it because she had to hear C.P.'s horrible flirting and pick-up lines. She simply tuned him out while her boys had to endure the seemingly endless hunger. Silver and Zelts listened to their unwanted guest as their stomachs rumbled and the hunger seemed to get to Remus more than the rest of them as his head fell onto the table then he tried to reach for a table napkin to quell his hunger.

The food finally arrived though Silver could tell they had to reheat their food meaning it lose some of its flavor. C.P. was the only one with food prepared moments ago. Since he was the reason they were in this state, VRSZ resented him even more. If he was actually an enemy, then they would've decked him like any other foe but they couldn't beat someone up just because they didn't like them. Well, Silver could and so could Violet but because he was Clair's cousin they would refrain.

Luckily for VRSZ, the night finally ended, though they had mix feelings about it. C.P. decided to ditch early so he could hook up with a waitress and her two friends, but he left after only taking one bite out of his food making everyone else at the table furious.

 **Setting: VRSZ Base**

Silver opened the door to their home with a dark expression on his face. He wasn't the only one as Violet, Remus, and Zelts grumbled as they walked in and sat on the couch where they stayed in silence for several minutes before someone said what they were all thinking.

"I think I hate Copper," Remus said aloud with no regret in his voice.

"...Remus, we all- everyone hates Copper," Violet said massaging her temples.

"Yup" Silver said with his head all the way back.

"Ditto" Zelts said while he held the bridge of his nose.

What was supposed to be a good day ended horribly, all thanks to Fortuna's new resident, Copper Periwinkle Vantablack.

* * *

 **Fun Facts**

 **Copper's name is meant to be ridiculous while showing how he will be a part of VRSZ's social circle even if hey don't want him to be. His first name is related to Silver and Zelts by completing the Group 11 elements in the periodic table. His middle name, Periwinkle, is a color in the violet and blue family, the color scheme of Violet and Remus respectively.**

 **Just as Clair has a music theme, Copper has one as well and it's I'm So Humble by The Lonely Island. The song itself describes his personality and how he sees himself perfectly and Conner and Copper sound so similar that I can hear either one when I hear this song.**

 **Clair de Lune Vantablack has a car originally owned by Absinthe and two airships though one of them is wrecked. According to the members of Team BASG, Silver is the one who crashed it. According to Silver, it was because of Blood's backseat flying and Ghost's trying to takeover that caused him to mess up. Either way, Clair currently has one usable airship.**


	13. Budding Relationships

**Setting: Tea Shop**

"Mmmm, this is so good," Clair said after drinking some tea, "and it taste much better with company, thank you for agreeing to come with me." Sitting at a table outside the tea shop was Clair along with Violet and Zelts, who also bought tea. Violet had a grin on her face and Zelts' expression was happy and calm.

"With your work schedule shifting we have more time to hang out now like this. I'm glad, I missed sending time with you Clair," Violet said before taking another sip of tea.

"How sweet, and Zelts, I never expected you to be a such a connoisseur of tea?"

"I wasn't at first, but Lily introduced me to some new things while we traveled and tea was one of the things I got hooked on. She showed me a lot of new things that I never really bothered to try before and I'm grateful to her."

Zelts' face was very serene and happy when he mentioned Lily, apparently Violet and Clair took note of his expression as well. When he noticed they were looking at him with interest that made him feel a little uncomfortable. He took a sip of tea and a bite of a biscuit that came with it. Zelts hoped they would stop leering at him, but he knew what was coming next. The first to ask was of course Clair.

"Lily, right, Violet told me about her and the relationship you two share. And based on what she told me, I take it the both of you fancy each other. So are you two in a proper relationship?" Clair's question made both girls leaned in closer and Zelts felt nervous.

"Um, I don't really want to talk about it."

Zelts thought they would back down, but what he didn't know was the fact that he was blushing when he answered. This only served to entice both girls further as they pressed on about Zelts explaining his relationship with Lily and he felt like he was trapped with no way out. He was somewhat regretting coming here despite Violet's warning about Clair's personality.

 _"Maybe I should've stayed home with Remus and Silver,"_

 **Setting: VRSZ Base**

While Violet and Zelts were away, Silver and Remus were enjoying a lazy day. Silver actually thought this was a good idea to exploit Remus' naivete even if he wasn't as gullible as before. He told Remus he was going to teach him how to play poker, he but was just going to swindle his friend out of all his money along with some of his dignity. However, it seemed like he would have to do this another day as a knock came to the door. Silver opened it and saw Sapphire and Loden with backpacks on. Silver didn't know what to make of this and it showed.

"Ummmmm, what's up?" he asked arching an eyebrow.

"We're here for the study session. There some things from class we don't understand," Sapphire said.

"Some of us need a better understanding while others are struggling." Loden's comment was directed at Sapphire who stared at her friend with a frown before she continued.

"Yeah, Cerise is busy and Hazel is with Onyx right now. Remus said he could help us figure out a few things so we came for some tutoring."

"Remus?" Silver said unsure. They nodded, but he was still confused. "Remus?" he repeated and once again they nodded. Silver was just being defiant now as he pointed to Remus, who was at the kitchen table playing with a deck of cards. "That one, right there? The one wearing blue"

"Yes, him!" Sapphire said before letting herself in with Loden right behind her.

"Eh, I don't see him teaching others about stuff, but it might be a good show." Silver was about to walk in until he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Bianca with a smile on her face.

"B-Bianca! Wh-what are you doing here?" He sounded more surprised than he wanted.

He noticed she wasn't in her usual business clothes like she usually wore when she was at work. Bianca wore a white hoodie and gray sweatpants. It was very simple and basic, but Silver thought she was beautiful in anything she wore. In fact, he was too enamored by her sudden angelic appearance that he couldn't speak. Seeing as his tongue was failing him, Bianca grinned and spoke.

"This is the part where you invite me in."

Silver did just that as he kept the door open for her to enter.

 **Setting: Tea Shop**

"Yeah, I guess we are in a relationship. I really don't see myself dating anyone else," Zelts said satisfying the company he was in.

"So sweet, though many women in Fortuna will have their hearts broken with this bit of information." Clair was having a great time interrogating Zelts for information on his relationship status, but the same couldn't be said for Zelts, who looked overheated by her questions. Violet looked to her teammate and felt pity for friend so she attempted to change the subject to something less mentally taxing.

"So Zelts, how is Lily? You said you guys are keeping in contact, so is she okay on her own?" Zelts seemed to feel a little relief from the less invasive question and was able to calm down.

"She says she's doing alright. Actually decided to take a ship to Vale and live there, said it be less chaotic. I miss her and I worry, but she's more than capable of taking care of herself."

"Such a faithful partner, must've broke the mold after they made you," Clair said with a smile.

Zelts felt a little better now that answering questions about his relationship was over. He had no problem admitting he was in one, but preferred not to give out specific details. Luckily this wasn't the case since Clair asked questions for about an hour but nothing too personal.

"So, how intimate have the two of you been?"

Zelts choked on a biscuit and Violet nearly spit out the swig of tea in her mouth. Clair had a smile but she was serious in her question.

"I-I uh,... I do not wish to talk about his, at all."

Zelts had his head down feeling too embarrassed to look any of them in the eye. Clair grinned then drank the last of her tea while Violet's face got red at the question and answer.

"That's okay darling, your answer told me everything I needed to know."

Zelts felt like he was going to burst. Finally fed up with being put on the spot, Zelts excused himself from the table and left to who knows where, all he wanted was to get out of Clair's clutches. Violet, with her hand covering her extremely red face, peeked at Clair, who giggled from Zelts' shyness. She thought the Lady of Fortuna was an expert at getting private stuff out of people and didn't want the same treatment.

"Anything you'd like to tell me Vi? You've been gone for a while. Anything new in your life? Tell me." Clair asked with her eyes on Violet, who didn't want to go through the same torturous experience.

"I got nothing, not a damn thing." Violet put the last biscuit in her mouth so she wouldn't have to talk anymore.

 **Setting: VRSZ Base**

Silver and Bianca were hanging out in the living room watching TV and playing videos games while Remus helped Loden and Sapphire with their studies. It proved fruitful as Remus helped them better understand math and science, surprising Silver who listened in. He remembered Violet telling him that Remus was smart academically, but it never showed until now. Loden was beginning to understand what he was saying and Sapphire seemed to struggle a little, but was doing better than she would've on her own.

"I never thought I'd see the day where _Remus_ teaches someone something." Silver was actually impressed with seeing his friend actually show signs of growing up. Bianca glanced at the study session then changed her gaze to Silver and his comfortable composure.

"Silver, why haven't you asked me out on a date yet?" Her sudden question caught him completely off-guard. It even tore Sapphire and Loden away from their studies as they listened without being caught. Remus didn't know what they meant so he continued looking over their study material.

"Uh, um- What do mean? You want to go on a date with me?"

"We've known each other for years and a girl can only wait for so long. After all your mumbling I thought you would finally muster the courage to ask, but if you prefer if I initiate that's okay."

"No- I mean... Ugh, I didn't know whether you'd say yes..."

"You never know unless try. For most people, all it takes is just to ask, like so." Bianca turned her body to the kitchen where she saw Loden and Sapphire eavesdropping, but didn't mind their curiosity. Her focus was on Remus.

"Hey Remus, would you like to go out on a date with me?" she asked shocking everyone except Remus. Even if it was a test, Silver was staring at Remus to see what he would say.

"...Sure.

" Sapphire gasped and Loden widened her eyes. Remus accepted to go on a date with the girl Silver always wanted to ask out and Silver didn't seem all that happy about this experiment.

" But, what's a date?" His question left no one surprised.

" Oh Remus, a date is something two people who really like each other do. They spend some private time in each other's company, usually having dinner together," Bianca explained. Unlike most people, she found his innocence amusing. "Have you ever been on a date before?" she asked intrigued.

"No, I don't think so. I've never done any of the things you just said." His answer made Bianca and the other girls smile at his purity, but Silver had something else in mind

"Remus, I'm going to ask you a serious question. Has Dr. Lupa or anyone ever... had _the talk_ with you?"Silver's question shocked everyone, but before anyone could protest his words he continued.

"You know, informed you about the birds and the bees?" Silver didn't know if he was simplifying it enough, but Remus did seem to recognize that phrasing.

"Oooooh, now I get what you're saying, you mean sex." His brute honesty made Silver laugh while Bianca, Sapphire, and Loden were too stunned to say or do anything. Their idea image of Remus changed quite a bit.

"Dr Lupa did teach me about the importance of it and all the mechanics. She said nature can do and perfect things that science could not. And she also told me to find a worthy other should I want to go down that road."

Now Silver was laughing out loud and didn't care who could hear him. He was having a field day with this talk seeing his friend in a new light he found hilarious. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ahahaha... Oh man, this is the best day ever! Remus, you got to tell me the _mechanics_ the good doctor taught you. Man I want a front row seat to your romantic life, that'd be very a entertaining show." Silver couldn't stop himself from laughing as everyone else except Remus was too embarrassed to speak up.

Remus saw that Sapphire and Loden weren't looking at their notes or him, so he didn't know if they were having trouble figuring something out. "What's wrong? You guys stuck on a problem? Let me see."

Remus leaned in close to see their paper, but the close proximity, combined with his new revelation, currently made it extremely awkward for the two girls to be anywhere near him without their faces flushing. They quickly got up, packed their things, thanked Remus for his help, and quickly left the base. Silver chuckled from their speedy escape and Remus' confusion made it funnier, though Bianca didn't feel the same and she wanted to change the subject.

"So anyway, later this week you're taking me on a date got it." Bianca's assertiveness was one of the things Silver liked about her.

"Yeah, we could go to Edesia or somewhere else. Doesn't matter to me."

"You pick, you should be able to take the lead on something in our date."

"Fair enough, I'll think of something." Silver grinned from the couch as he watched a confused Remus scratch his head because he couldn't understand why the girls left like that.

Out of the blue, Zelts walked into the house, still a little red in the face. Not sure what could've happened, Silver asked Zelts what was wrong. "What happened to you?"

"I uh, was speaking with Clair and-"

"Got it," Silver and Bianca said simultaneously. They understand Clair could say things to bring even someone as stalwart as Zelts to his knees. Her personality has a powerful effect on everyone.

 **Setting: Vantablack**

Sapphire and Loden were walking back to their home and base in Ceres. Loden was complimenting how thorough and helpful Remus' notes were to Sapphire, but her friend's mind was somewhere else. She thought back to what Bianca said about being assertive when asking someone out and her own introversion when it came to speaking to Ghost.

"Sapphire are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just got something else I got do later today."

"Okay," Loden said not prying any further. If Sapphire wanted help she would've asked.

 **Setting: Bianca and Ghost's Apartment**

Now that Bianca lived in Fortuna, she decided to live with her half-brother in his apartment. Ghost insisted they do this to bond as siblings. It was rocky as first, but it proved fruitful in forming a real sibling relationship. Ghost spent his day-off at home, specifically in the kitchen doing one of his favorite things, making breakfast food to eat at any time besides the morning. He heard someone knock on his door and walked to it. He opened the door and saw Sapphire in the hallway. He wasn't expecting her to come to his home, but it wasn't a big deal and her grin seemed out of place to him.

"Um, hey."

"Ghost, you and I are going on a date, later this week, got it?" she said taking a page from Bianca's assertive method.

To make her point clear, she put her hand on the doorway and leaned in close to show she was in charge. Her move did have an effect on Ghost, who felt slightly overwhelmed and dominated at this point. He has never seen this side of Sapphire before and didn't think he was in a position to say no.

"...Okay." Ghost felt like that was the correct answer in this situation and it seemed to be right because the blue haired girl smiled.

"Good, I'll be waiting. Think of something nice for us to do." And with that, Sapphire walked down the hall to leave while Ghost was left baffled. Sapphire was feeling very good about herself for finally asking Ghost out.

"Thank you Bianca."

* * *

 **Fun Facts**

 **Silver eventually asked Remus if there were any girls he liked but Remus said he liked them all as friends. Using a different approach, Silver asked if he looks at a girl like Violet as a woman which Remus doesn't get but he can clearly see she is clearly female, showing he doesn't understand the true meaning of Silver's words. He told Remus the next time he sees Violet to really look at her and notice if there's a reaction. Silver really wants to see what Remus would be like on a date. He isn't wrong, it would be entertaining to watch.**

 **Bianca doesn't really care if Silver initiates a relationship with her, she's just aware that hes has been struggling to properly ask her out and she wanted to progress their status. If she was being completely honest, she'd say Silver could do almost anything he wanted because she knows they'll end up together in the end.**

 **What has Blood doing while everyone else were doing their own thing? With a heavy heart, Clair tasked Blood with keeping an eye on C.P. to make sure he didn't do anything boneheaded. Reluctantly, Blood joined C.P. on his adventure of hitting on every girl he came across. For a while C.P. had him play wingman though it didn't produce the results he wanted, as many of the girls were more attracted to Blood and his mysterious air. Despite his lack of success, C.P. considers Blood a friend and somehow got his phone number so they could hang out whenever, much to Blood's dismay.**


	14. VRSZ Team CLSH Part 1

**Setting: Desert**

The time has finally come for the preordained battle, Violet versus Cerise. The young girl wanted a chance to prove herself to Violet, the person she admires more than anyone, and a battle to show her growth was exactly what she wanted, except Violet changed the rules last minute. Originally, this was supposed to be a one-on-one fight between the two girls, but Violet suggested they bring their whole team into this in order to get a real measure of how Cerise progressed as a leader, a proposition the girl accepted. The battle was to take place in the desert just outside of Fortuna.

Team VRSZ stood on one side and Team CLSH on the other with their weapons drawn. Neither side did anything but look at each other with expressions of enthusiasm and smiles. Violet walked up and spoke with a grin, "Boys, this won't be like our regular fights against bandits and scum. We can't afford to give them any slack, unless you want to lose. We've trained them and they've studied us closely so you guys better believe they know how to counter our moves."

"Hear you loud and clear boss, hold nothing back," Silver complied with Cerberus in both hands.

"I really don't feel like losing, especially to our juniors, I'd never live it down," Zelts said with a smile and his Heart of Gold in shield form.

Remus had a smile and was nearly tripping on himself at the thought of battling them. "I've been waiting for this." He had Romulus already drawn. "I want to fight them so bad!"

On the other side of the battle field, Team CLSH were talking about their feelings as well some of them were pretty mixed.

"...I feel on edge," Loden said, keeping a tight grip on World Splitter and trying to ease the her trembling heart.

"I sort of understand where you're coming from, the wish to fight them and the reality of it is truly different. I don't know how this will turn out, Cerise?" Hazel called on her leader and friend to know how she felt, but Cerise was silent.

"..." Her eyes, her face, her whole body language could be summed up in one word; serious.

"She really wants to prove all our training meant something," Sapphire said with a grin, knowing how her leader felt. "I really want to go all out too."

There was no bell or referee to signal the start of the fight. Whoever moved first was the indication that the battle started. Violet and Cerise looked in each others' eyes to get a read on who was going to do what. The only one who moved was Violet who grabbed the stretched collar of her shirt and used it as a mask to cover her mouth and nose. Cerise could only assume she did it so she wouldn't be able to read Violet's mouth when she gave out commands. In an instant, both leaders ordered their teammates at the same time.

"Zelts!"

"Loden!"

With his shield split into wingblades, Zelts swung both and created a large powerful blast of wind that was too big for Team CLSH to avoid. Using her naginata and all her strength, Loden drove her World Splitter into the sand then slashed upward to erect an enormous wave of earth that grew into a cliff that was able to split the gust in two, keeping everyone on her team safe. Cerise correctly anticipated what VRSZ would do and knew the correct way to counter it, showing how sharp of an intuition she had. She didn't let it stop there as she instructed Loden to keep creating waves of earth to make small borders, walls and footholds to protect them and to add elevation to the fight. Loden made multiple earth structures that changed the landscape immediately.

"They've definitely gotten stronger," Zelts said with a grin, showing he was very impressed.

"No time to be amazed, move out!" Violet said and Team VRSZ moved into the desert now mini canyon while CLSH did the same.

Using the earth spires and walls, Sapphire used her Spinneret cables to latch onto walls and other structures to swing and move around the area while her teammates moved on foot. Silver used Gravity to jump and move around the area to meet up with the blue haired girl on equal footing. The two clashed with Silver's Cerberus in twin staff mode, attacking Sapphire who defended by wrapping her cables around the staffs to stop the attack. Remus kept behind his teammate to have his back and he moved in to strike while their opponent was occupied, but this team attack was thwarted by one of Hazel's wasp drones firing a laser at Remus, forcing him to block with Romulus and move out the way. With Silver's weapons constricted, Sapphire used this moment to descend to the ground while still holding Silver who fell with her.

Thanks to Gravity, his body's mass was still light enough for Sapphire to yank him down with a forceful pull of her cables and slam him down to the ground, hurting the gunman who wasn't expecting any of this. Not wanting to stop, she swung her cables to the left, carrying a still entangled Silver into a stone wall, but he had enough of being tossed around like a rag doll. Before he hit the wall, he readjusted his semblance so he landed on his feet on the side of the wall and used his semblance to lighten Sapphire and her cables. He copied her attack by taking hold of her cables and swung her across the desert sand. This continued only for a short time before Sapphire retracted her Spinnerets and got herself back up.

Elsewhere, moving throughout the battleground was Remus dodging and evading the laser fire from two of Hazel's drones. With the area no longer a flat surface, Cerise planned for the jagged unbalanced terrain to slow Remus down, however, Lupa trained him to adapt in the midst of battle and it showed as he jumped and dashed around using the stones to help change the direction he was going. Changing Romulus to railgun mode, he turned around and fired three energy bolts at the drones, but they avoided his attacks and continued to fire down on him. Hazel moved around the area in order to keep her whereabouts unknown as she operated her two drones while the third was still attached to her mechanical backpack. Figuring out the distance the drones were keeping from him, Remus used Checkpoint to teleport behind one and slash down with Romulus in dual sword form. The metal of the drones has greatly improved to withstand more attacks as Remus' strike didn't cut it, only sent it down before it flew back in the air. Hazel decided to change tactics and show off the new thing she and Onyx have been working on. The two wasp drones returned to their owner where each one attached to Hazel's hands. The final drones remained on her backpack and started its thrusters to allow the faunus girl to take flight.

"So cool," Remus said to himself as he watched Hazel take the offensive.

With both drones attached to her arms, she aimed one at Remus and fired a laser blast at him, only for him to dodge and continue to run with Hazel behind him. With this new improvement of her Hive, Hazel was able to take to the skies again like she did when she was a child. Even in the middle of a battle, she was truly happy. She wasn't as fast as Remus, but she was able to keep up as he maneuvered around the battlefield. He landed on a piece of earth that Zelts and Loden just destroyed the moment they clashed on the ground. He tumbled for a bit but kept moving with Hazel on his tail.

Being the physical powerhouses of their team, Zelts and Loden were pitted against one another. Loden kept close to Zelts to prevent him from using his wind to knock her around and vice versa for Zelts to remain close so Loden couldn't attack him with earth. With wingblades clashing with the naginata, neither side seemed to waver. Zelts took note of her body, how it had more muscle since the last time he meet her. Her training has shown in appearance and battle prowess. She was strong and was able to fend off all of Zelts' attacks, but the difference in age, experience, and strength meant he would win if this continued, something Loden was very aware of and it was part of Cerise's strategy.

Team CLSH's leader was nearby as she threw several Runaway cherry bombs at Violet, who did her best to avoid the variety of bombs. She even threw her explosives at the surrounding terrain to use everything to hit her senior. Violet felt a mixture of two feelings watching her junior; the first was pride at how far the girl went to gain her approval and the other was dissatisfaction with how Cerise copied her stratagems instead of making a style for herself.

A Runaway with fire dust hit a rocky spire and the rubble was falling on top of Violet and she responded in kind using an Enigma with fire dust to explode when it made contact with one of stones. The impact of the explosion knocked the debris away from Violet as she followed up with a lightning Enigma thrown at an almost surprised Cerise. The move would've worked if not for Cerise's Shields. She activated her semblance to create a small force field wall in front of her to block the throwing knife and she used this moment of freedom to initiate her plan by throwing a cherry bomb to where Zelts and Loden were fighting. Loden's Panorama let her see this coming as she backed away from Zelts to grab the bomb and toss it at him. Expecting the bomb to blow up in his face, Zelts was ready to use Conversion to drain it of dust, but this wasn't that type of Runaway. Instead of exploding in fire or ice, it was a flash bomb that served its purpose and blinded him. Violet was actually so impressed with Cerise's misdirection and teamwork she wasn't paying attention to Cerise tossing a cherry bomb at her until it was too late. It exploded, releasing a thick cloud of black smoke that enveloped Violet and showing that it was a smoke bomb. Cerise left Violet in order to assist her teammates in their battles.

Remus stopped running from Hazel so he could get on the offensive. He teleported right beside her and swung his sword at her side which she defended using the drone equipped to her right arm. It pushed her back, but barely injured her as she fired point blank with a laser blast that did hit him and push him back as well. Not wanting to lose his momentum, Remus jumped up and combined his dual swords to double-bladed staff mode ready to dive and pierce through her drones, but his attempt at gaining the upper hand was taken away when Cerise interfered. She didn't run up to Hazel, just looked in her direction and mentally created an orb-shaped force field that protected her teammate and cause Remus to stagger. Before the force field completely disappeared, Hazel aimed both drones at Remus and fired directly at his chest and damaged his aura. Hazel looked to Cerise then flew away to aid Sapphire with Remus chasing after her.

Silver and Sapphire were still battling while moving around the tall pieces of earth with Silver choosing to fight long distance with his guns. He fired rounds of ammo at Sapphire while backing away, but she used her cables to block each of his regular shots, so he decided to quickly switch to his dust rounds. Seeing him change his arsenal, Sapphire changed from swinging over to Silver to retreating a nearby boulder. He followed thinking his change in arsenal gave him an advantage and he fired several rounds of ice dust at her estimated location. He heard the shots land but didn't see if he hit his mark but was confident in his skills.

"Silver!" He heard Remus shout and saw he accidentally shot his teammate by mistake. Feeling like a complete rookie, Silver moved in to quickly get him out of the ice.

"Dammit! Sorry Remus, I didn't think you were anywhere near my fight. I'll get you out in a-"

"Silver?" Remus said, standing behind Silver and the frozen Remus.

The gunman was beyond baffled. He looked to the Remus standing before him that suddenly took a fighting stance then Silver looked to the Remus partially frozen by his previous attack, but instead of seeing Remus, he saw Sapphire just as she deactivated her semblance, Masquerade, and appearing behind her was Hazel who activated her semblance, Pandemonium.

"Sorry," Hazel said before activating her semblance. Her aura turned dark and ghastly for a quick second, just enough to affect Silver who looked to being a trance before falling to the ground.

"He'll only be down temporarily. I worked really hard to control my semblance," Hazel told Remus as she freed Sapphire from the ice, but he was too busy trying to wake up his friend. She got Sapphire out and together they flew away to join their teammates.

Violet already made it out of the smokescreen and moved to find Cerise, but she was too late. Cerise joined Loden in her ongoing fight with Zelts,, though she was fairing much better than before. Zelts moved to strike with both his blades but Cerise created a force field around Loden to stop his attack and disrupt his flow then tossed one more flash bomb to blind him once again. Not seeing the other members of Team CLSH behind him, Zelts couldn't use Conversion to absorb the two laser blasts from Hazel that hit him in the back and Sapphire's cables wrapped around his left arm. Restrained, Loden backed away then slashed the earth to send a strong wave of earth directly at him. Their teamwork proved successful as Zelts was knocked far away right when Violet made it to the fight. He landed right into the side of a rocky cliff and Zelts fell to the ground feeling himself tire quite a bit.

When he got back on his feet, he noticed that his aura was fading away. "They... have gotten stronger. I'm proud." Zelts truly felt like he had to work in order to fight all of them. Their synergy was extremely high, on par with VRSZ's and it impressed him.

Meanwhile, Remus slapped Silver hard to wake him up and it worked though it left a red mark on his cheek. "Damn, they're good, too good. I hate to admit it, but we can chalk this up as one of our tougher fights as a team."

"I know, I love it too," Remus was too ecstatic at the tremendous increase of Team CLSH's skills as he had a massive smile on his face.

Silver could understand how they got better working as a unit all this time while VRSZ has been separated for more than a year, but he wasn't going to let that be an excuse and he hasn't forfeited the battle yet. He and Remus moved to rejoin the fight.

Violet was looking at this team of girls who have taken a great step in their dream of becoming huntresses. With this type of thought swimming around her head, she couldn't think of anything else to do but smile beneath her mask.

 _"Cerise, no... Loden, Sapphire, Hazel, I'm proud of all of you,"_

* * *

 **Fun Facts**

 **Silver isn't the only one in the team who cooks. Violet is second best and Zelts is quite capable, but Remus is without a doubt the worst. Silver sometimes forbids him from trying to make anything because of the time Remus started a fire after trying to pour milk into a bowl of cereal.**

 **Both Remus and Sapphire are the battle lovers on their teams. The two actually have a lot in common and would make a good couple, but Remus doesn't see her in a romantic way and Sapphire has her eyes on Ghost.**

 **Team CLSH (Clash) stands for clashing colors and their rivalry with Team VRSZ. CLSH was actually pitied against VRSZ for the main story, but VRSZ won out because I felt more attached to the members of VRSZ than CLSH and the idea of a team with three guys and a girl as a leader was very interesting and something that I don't think has been done in RWBY. I didn't want team CLSH to be left behind so they transformed into a younger team that looks up to and rivals VRSZ.**


	15. VRSZ Team CLSH Part 2

**Setting: Desert**

 _"Cerise, no... Loden, Sapphire, Hazel, I'm proud of all of you,"_

Violet was happy to see this rookie team grow into a formidable force that made even Team VRSZ stay on their toes. They were a true team that has earned her respect, but now wasn't the time to praise them. Violet had to show them that despite their growth, Team VRSZ were still the top dogs. Violet said nothing when she dashed to the entirety of Team CLSH who did the same.

"Hazel, Loden!" Cerise ordered and the named members acted. Loden swung her naginata into the ground to send a wave of earth to Violet while Hazel flew above waiting for her to dodge accordingly and she did, Violet jumped high above the wave of earth right in Hazel's firing range.

Before the faunus could fire, Violet shouted two words, "Remus! Disrupt!"

Out of nowhere, Remus teleported in front of Hazel, grabbed her arm before she fired, and teleported out. They came back right behind Loden who could see them with her Panorama, but couldn't react fast enough to do anything. Remus let go of Hazel and used Checkpoint once more to teleport away as Hazel's laser fire hit Loden in the back. The green haired warrior was pushed forward by the blast with Hazel wanting to apologize after the battle. Cerise became wary of Remus' unpredictability and had some Runaways in her hand just in case, but she kept her focus on the more dangerous threat, Violet, who had every member at her disposal. This changed from a battle between teams to a battle between leaders and their ability to command.

"Zelts!" A small tornado appeared on the side of the stone battlefield and within it was Zelts, who aided his leader's call.

"Sapphire!"

She threw three Enigmas at her opponents and Zelts followed up with a small wave of wind that helped propel her throwing knives faster as they made their way to Sapphire and Cerise, who ordered the other girl to defend. Sapphire raised her arms to make the cables move as a makeshift shield before activating the fire dust in her gauntlets making the cables scorching hot and glow red. When the Enigmas made contact with the burning iron they were sliced in half like butter. With the threat gone, Cerise threw her ice cherry bombs just as Violet called out another teammate.

"Silver!"

Cerise tossed her bombs at Violet and Zelts, but far off to her right was Silver in her blindside thanks to his semblance helping him reach that point in the air. He aimed with both Cerberus guns and fired at the bombs to set them off right in Cerise and Sapphire's personal space. He hit his marks and they went off, covering the area in ice except for Sapphire and Cerise. She activated Shields to create a force field and protect the both of them, but what really protected them was a uprooted piece of earth that blocked them from the icy explosion. Loden quickly ran to Violet, but Zelts stood in her way. Hazel was flying behind her and picked Loden up by her arms to fly her over Zelts and drop her right on top of Violet who threw several Enigmas at her, but she deflected them all by twirling her polearm. Before she made it to the ground, Violet jumped away, but Zelts wasn't as fast as her. When Loden landed back on the ground, she pierced it with her World Splitter which caused the ground surrounding her to erupt, making large stones come out of the ground. He was hit by two large stones that scraped his arm badly and with his aura gone it left a mark.

Taking note that his aura was no longer protecting him, Violet instructed him to stay behind to act as support while she took on Loden in close combat. The young girl was strong, she matched Violet in physical strength, but Violet had greater speed and as the best hand-to-hand fighter on her team, she had the clear advantage. With her Enigma daggers, she parried against Loden's naginata while Zelts did as she told him and stayed behind, but he noticed that all the of members CLSH were joining in with Hazel dive bombing from above.

"Remus! Silver! Mow them down!" Violet ordered.

Loden saw Silver come up behind Violet to enter their bout, but he didn't have his guns. He reached into his pocket and, playing his role as a dirty fighter, he threw sand in her face. Blinded and very upset, Loden was temporarily stunned with her semblance effectively disabled. Taking complete advantage of her staggering, Violet and Silver used **Thick As Thieves** to overwhelm her while Remus and Zelts dealt with the others. Zelts blasted Hazel away with a gust of wind she couldn't avoid, knocking her away from his teammates, and Remus ran to Sapphire and Cerise. Using her Runaways with ice dust, Cerise threw them in his path to cover the ground and ice, hoping to trip him up. It would've worked, but before he could walk on the ice, he stopped running at high speed on a dime then ran around it at high speed again, but Cerise threw smoke bomb Runaways all around her then stood back to back with Sapphire. They waited for him to appear out of the smoke then attack and Sapphire saw something come out the smokescreen from above. Without any hesitation, she sent out her cables and snared what popped out. Thinking she caught her target, Sapphire face changed from seriousness to surprise when she pulled her catch in and saw she didn't snag Remus but only one of his swords from Romulus. In their confusion, Cerise and Sapphire failed to react to Remus teleporting beside them. He struck Sapphire with a palm strike that pushed her away and was about to do the same to Cerise, but she countered by catching his hand in her own. Before he could use Checkpoint, she kept a firm grip then landed a strong punch to the gut, not strong enough to harm him but to make him flinch. She quickly reached into her bag for a fire Runaway, and slammed it against his chest where it exploded, consuming them both and Sapphire in an explosion.

Remus was knocked far away from the girls and his aura was very low while Cerise managed to cloak herself and Sapphire in their own personal force field skin that protected them from the blast. He pulled out his other sword and activated the dust energy to transfer to the blade for its blue glow and sharpened the edges. He rushed to them with Sapphire weaving her cables to attack, but instead of dodging he slashed through them, destroying the cables in her weapon. He jumped above them ready to dive down and attack, but Cerise protected themselves with another force field that stopped his attack, however, Remus' blade was able to slice through it.

Violet and Silver's team attack not only broke through Loden's aura, but they succeeded in knocking her out, granted she did put up a great resistance that resulted in Silver's aura being broken and Violet's taking a couple hits. Zelts carefully dragged Loden away from the battle while Violet took note of Remus slowly gaining the upper hand in his fight. Cerise's Shields were being cut through but they were still proving effective in keeping his attacks at bay and with her Spinnerets gone, Sapphire took Remus' other sword she snagged earlier and used that to fend him off which actually proved to be effective. She didn't know how to activate the energy transfer in his blade so if he accidentally crossed swords with her, then he might slice his own weapon and he didn't want that so she actually put Remus in a corner.

"Zelts, charge up. We're going to use **Petal Storm**!" Zelts obeyed Violet's order by activating Conversion. He absorbed the dust woven into his muscle shirt while Violet and Silver left to help Remus, but Hazel intervened.

She fired lasers from above but Violet was prepared, she threw an Enigma with gravity dust in the hilt, it activated and began sucking things in with its strong gravitational pull. Silver activated his own gravity-defying semblance to cancel out the knife's and held Violet's hand so she would be unaffected as well while Hazel was being drawn in to the knife and couldn't get away. She was getting desperate, so Hazel fired a relentless flurry of laser blast in Violet and Silver's direction, but this proved to be her downfall. Even though the lasers were fueled by dust, they were still made up of light and light can be drawn in by a strong enough gravitational pull like anything else. The lasers started to turn back toward the strong gravity, but not before hitting Hazel, who stood in the way. With no way to defend herself, she was hit by a volley of lasers that eventually broke through her aura and drained her of any energy to continue. Hazel fell to the ground while still be pulled to the position of the gravity Enigma until the effect stopped. Zelts watched as he absorbed enough dust for what he needed to do.

Remus was pressing his attack on Cerise, but backed away when Sapphire got too close with his other sword. Silver jumped high over the battle and fired a bunch of rounds at the ground around them to get everyone's eyes on him. His tactic proved successful as everyone looked at him, except Violet, who used her semblance to go undetected as she ran up to Sapphire and swiped Remus' sword from her hand.

In Silver's head he wanted her to say 'Yoink' once she took it, but knew Violet was a serious fighter who would never say that.

She gave the weapon back to Remus and ordered him to stay out of the fight, with every other members' aura nearly gone, Violet wasn't going to get her boys hurt anymore.

 _"Cerise and Sapphire are the only ones left and their aura have taken a beating, though Cerise has Shields to last longer than all of us and she has done so throughout the entire battle. Sapphire's Spinnerets were destroyed thanks to Remus, so Cerise is the final obstacle in our way of victory. You did well... but this is the end,"_ Violet thought before calling out to Zelts.

"Now, **Petal Storm**!"

That was Zelts' signal. With a mighty swing of his blades, he created his trademark golden tornado that moved toward the others. Silver, once again, kept a hand on his teammates to hold them down with Gravity while Cerise and Sapphire were swept into the vortex. Violet threw all her fire dust Enigmas into the tornado and they all ignited around the hurricane until the entire thing was engulfed in flames, creating the burning elemental version of team attack, **Hellfire**. Team VRSZ watched it move aimlessly from the large rocky foothold to the desert sands, where the tornado's trail turned the sand into silicon with its heat. Inside, Cerise created a force field to protect Sapphire and herself from any harm, but getting hit by the relentless flames put a massive strain on Cerise, not to mention the heat inside the exhausted the two huntresses greatly. Loden finally came to and so did Hazel as they saw the inferno move around.

 **Hellfire** finally ended some distance away from the battlefield and everyone immediately ran to where it stopped. Loden, Hazel, and the members of Team VRSZ ran, or hobbled to be more accurate, to the area where the inferno ended to see what happened to Cerise and Sapphire. Have they been defeated or will the battle continue? The answer was right before them. Cerise was still standing with her semblance protecting her and Sapphire, who was laying in the sand tired. Using Shiels to keep them from any kind of harm, Cerise withstood the brute force of **Hellfire**. Violet looked at the young girl, astonished at her strength and drive to not back down. It impressed her immensely, but Cerise's bold stance didn't last long. The red haired girl fell to her knees. She was covered in sweat and trying to catch her breath. She was protected from the team attack, but the heat drained her body.

"I-I... I... accept defeat," Cerise said through exhaustion and frustration. She clenched her fists into the sand showing she was very upset she didn't win. Throughout the whole fight she kept a serious look befitting a huntress, but now she looked close to crying, reminding Violet that she's still a fifteen year old girl.

Violet asked the others to give her some alone time with Cerise and they complied now that the leader of Team CLSH surrendered. Now that they were alone, Violet sat beside Cerise to console the girl. "Are you okay?"

"I failed, I failed to show you that I've changed, that I've improved a bit while training at the academy."

"...Think that if you want, but from my perspective, you've grown into an outstanding huntress in-training."

"Really?" Cerise was in disbelief as she wiped the tears that formed away.

"You gave my boys and I a thrashing we won't be forgetting anytime soon. You and your team held your own in that fight, a fight where we were serious. Cerise, you gave us a beating, and more importantly a wake-up call. Team VRSZ may have gotten stronger in the last eighteen months, but so has everyone else. You guys are proof of that. If we're going to be freelancers we have to acknowledge there will be a lot of strong opponents." Violet smiled at her junior who she didn't think she could call her junior anymore.

"We all have a long way to go, but today I say you and your team proved that here. My team and I can't let our guard down, not even for a second with you guys on our tail." Violet began to chuckle to herself which calmed Cerise down.

"And I understand your disappointment, I don't want to lose to you guys either."

"...I kind of didn't want to beat you. Somewhere deep inside, a small part of me wanted you to win because your my idol, my goal, my hero." Violet looked at Cerise as she expressed her feelings.

"Hmm, I have a saying when it comes to something like that. You probably heard it one way, but this is my version; Don't meet you heroes, surpass them."

"I hope you continue growing as a huntress, a leader, and as person Cerise. I look forward to it."

"So do I," the little red headed girl said with a smile. This talk was what she needed if she wanted to progress further.

The two leaders looked at their teams in the distance as they talked about how everyone did in the battle, mostly praises here and there. The camaraderie after such a fierce confrontation is what truly made the two girls happy. The barrier between the senior and junior warriors were shattered and transformed into something better, friends and rivals.

* * *

 **Fun Facts**

 **Each member of VRSZ is asymmetric in clothing and/or appearance. Another aspect they all share is having dual wield weapons, now that Remus has his new weapon. VRSZ (Versus) does not only mean color vs colour, but it also depicts how the team will fight pretty much everyone and anyone that crosses them.**

 **Besides Team BRNZ, Team VRSZ might be the only team with three male members and one female. VRSZ may be the only team with this gender ratio and have the female as the leader.**

 **I wouldn't say Team VRSZ aren't good guys, but they are definitely not heroes. It's better to call them neutral. As freelancers they don't really consider themselves rule breakers because they don't play by the same rules academy or regular teams do, so anything goes for them. They could help heroes in doing some heroics if they were paid enough, though Zelts will probably do it because he's a good guy.**

 **Being a former experiment raised to be a weapon, his blue color scheme, and originally trying to find a place to call home, Remus shows similarities to Stitch from Lilo and Stitch.**

 **Zelts shows similarities to the Green Knight in Arthurian literature for some obvious reasons. Both have a green color scheme and Zelts plays the role of the knight in the team. In Arthurian literature, the Green Knight's role includes being a judge and tester of knights, similar to Zelts in the beginning of VRSZ and whenever he trained Team CLSH.**


	16. Epilogue

**Setting: Fortuna**

Violet and Clair were spending time together as friends once again. Usually the two would go out to the tea shop and enjoy each other's company in the sunlight, but today was different. Clair wanted to take her somewhere new, a spa, despite Violet's constant protesting. The two enjoyed mud masks, manicures, pedicures, and massages. Well, Clair enjoyed them while Violet was having a hard time trying to relax. All this beautification was never Violet's thing. She was born into etiquette, but chose to leave it behind, so relaxing wasn't the first thing on her mind, but Clair did this out of friendship so she could only try to make the best of it and let the stress out of her body. The two were in there for two and a half hours and were at the last part of their regiment, the sauna. Both girls sat in the closed space alone getting a good sweat before Clair spoke .

"That wasn't so bad now was it?"

"...I guess not. Maybe you were right, this may have been long overdue." Violet and Clair had towels wrapped around the bodies, but Clair could see the scars on Violet's body and looked concern.

"...After your time on the run, how are you now that it's over?"

"I'm fine. Honestly, I thought all that time away fighting for my life would make me cold and cynical, but when I saw my boys again after so long, all those fears just melted away. They really are special to me... don't tell them I said that."

"Heheheh... deal. I'm just glad to know everything that happened didn't leave any mental scars. I must give your boy toys my thanks." Usually Violet would've felt some kind of way about Clair's nickname for the rest of Team VRSZ, she didn't mind anymore.

"Speaking of your boys, what are they doing now with you here? I know they can fully function without you, but I'm just curious."

"They're back at the base. After our battle with Team CLSH, they decided to train back at home. As long as they don't wreck the place, I don't care what they do."

"What kind of training do you think they're doing?" Clair asked and Violet pondered about it a little, but let the steam of the sauna soothe her body and mind.

 **Setting: VRSZ Base**

"Grrr, come on, come on..." Silver was standing in front of the VRSZ Base along with Remus, who was messing with his arm bracer while Silver seemed to be focusing on trying to do something. As he stood still, his clothes were moving by some unseen force. but nothing else happened.

"Ah dammit, I still can't levitate. Your brother was able to do it with my semblance so why can't I?"

"I don't know. Hey Silver, are sure I should try this?" Remus asked looking at the red dust crystal he placed into his bracer. He was skeptica,l but his face didn't show it, mainly because his right eye has been closed the entire time they've been out here. Silver was irritated he couldn't levitate, so he focused on his comrade instead.

"You're the only one of us who doesn't utilize dust in battle, so practicing with it now will help you increase your arsenal. Now that that dust is equipped, try using Checkpoint to get from here to... there." Silver pointed to the front porch of their home.

"...Okay." Remus was a bit unsure what would happen, but attempted it anyway.

Just before he used his semblance, Zelts appeared, walking down the road back to the base just in time to see Remus use Checkpoint. With a couple doubts in his head, Remus activated Checkpoint and instead of a puff of blow smoke that always appears after he teleports, it was a spontaneous burst of fire that scorched the sandy ground of their front yard. Then another spontaneous combustion happened at their porch where Remus appeared, untouched and unharmed by the flames, though the same couldn't be said about the porch which wasn't on fire but had scorch marks here and there. Silver quickly walked to the porch to put out any flames but saw none, instead he was even more frustrated because of the burn marks on the wooden porch and Violet would find some way to pin this on him.

"Oh come on," he complained while placing his hand on his forehead.

"Did I do it wrong?" Remus asked thinking Silver spoke to him.

"No...you're good. That was actually pretty cool, so cool that it needs a name."

"Does it really need one or are you trying to procrastinate?" Zelts asked making his presence known.

Silver grumbled to himself because Zelts was right about stalling on his own training. "How long have been here?"

"Long enough to know you're still having trouble trying to levitate. Why don't you try it my way?"

"Meditation's not my style."

"It helps, a clear head can do wonders, Lily taught me that." Zelts actually got into sitting position, took off his robe, scarf, and shirt before meditating.

"Do you really have to show your muscles off when you do that?" Silver took note that some of the residence that walked by, mostly women, were slowing their pace to have a good look at Zelts and his muscular glory. The fact that he still doesn't realize he's being ogled annoys Silver and med him worry about how oblivious Zelts really iss.

"You don't have to. It's just too hot for me to do it in all this clothing. Sit down and try it."

Silver gave in and sat across from Zelts in the same position. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind. Zelts was silent as he looked at Silver trying to meditate. He felt pretty good about himself that he got Silver to try a new approach to help develop his semblance.

"That's it!" Silver shouted happily startling both his brothers.

 _"Did he get it already?"_ Zelts thought.

"What's it?" Remus asked confused.

"A name for your new move, Will-O-Wisp!" Silver's answer made Zelts slap himself on the forehead seeing as Silver wasn't trying at all. Remus was actually liking the name and decided to use it.

"Maybe we should try this another time." Zelts got up as well as Silver who wasn't really brokenhearted about not meditating. "If you want to evolve your semblance, you'll have to do this eventually."

"Yeah yeah, I know."

"Isn't this a sight to behold? Hello boys." The three members looked over to the other side of their fence to see their leader along with Clair de Lune Vantablack, who rested her arms on the fence as she looked at the guys, though her eyes drifted more to Zelts as he still hasn't put his shirt back on.

"How was the spa?" Zelts asked as he put his muscle shirt back on and Clair booed him inside her head.

"So much fun and very needed. Violet had a lot of knots that needed to be undone. I return her completely rela-"

"What the hell happened to the porch!? It's burnt!" Violet said with all her knots probably coming back.

Zelts looked to Silver and Remus to answer since he wasn't involved in any way. Silver tried to think of something while Clair watched in amusement. Remus was actually the one to fess up.

"What happened was-" Remus was about to tell her everything, but Silver put his hand over his mouth.

"I'll be the one to tell her. We were in the middle of training and the Vermilion twins showed up looking for a fight. The one with the shotgun and grenade launcher got one shot in before we sent them packing," Silver lied through his teeth as Remus looked at him in confusion.

Violet stared at Silver for a while, but backed off. "Fine, I'll get those two later and make them pay." She cracked her knuckles and Remus felt guilty while Silver didn't care what happened to those guys.

"Thanks for the spa day Clair. Maybe we can do it again."

"Sure thing Violet, you may need to go more often than I thought."

Just as they said their goodbyes, someone came in on a moped. The driver took his helmet off to reveal that the person was Onyx.

"Hey Clair, hey Vi."

The young faunus' attire didn't change, but he has gotten taller. Under his arm was a parcel that he brought to Silver.

"It's done?" Silver asked surprised and excited.

"Here, I finished tweaking Cerberus. It should be better than before."

"Thanks Onyx, no one else can fix a weapon like you." Silver took the parcel from Onyx who went to Remus next.

"And I made improvements to your eye Remus."

"Wait what?" Silver just realized that Remus has kept his eye shut this entire time. He just thought he got sand in his eye.

"Dr. Lupa really made something extraordinary, I couldn't really do much with it, but increase the scope. I'll try and see if I can do anything other features next time."

Onyx put his hand into his pocket to pull out a small parcel box and handed it to Remus. He opened the box to reveal his cybernetic eye. Much to everyone's disgust, Remus opened his left eye socket and placed his bionic eye back into place. Onyx and Violet were stunned, Zelts and Clair had better poker faces though Zelts looked like he would throw up, and Silver nearly fainted at the sight. As Lady of Fortuna, Clair recomposed herself quickly as she entered the yard to guide her cousin back to his moped.

"Come on Onyx, be a sweetie and drop your favorite cousin off at Concordia."

"Oh is C.P. here?" Onyx teased.

"That's not funny Onyx." Clair's playfulness vanished at the mention of _his_ name and her faunus cousin ceased his joking.

Onyx rode off with Clair, sitting behind him, leaving VRSZ in front of their home.

"Well, I'm heading inside. Got some some crooks tied and gagged in the closet, going to take them to Moneta and get paid. Anyone want to help? There are like four of them."

"Sure," Zelts said.

"I'm going to stay here and work on my new move," Remus said.

"Yeah me too, gotta really try this time," Silver answered as he got back in meditation form and tried to focus.

Violet and Zelts went inside while Remus got to a safe distance to practice Will-O-Wisp. Silver sat down, closed his eyes, and did his best to clear his mind of all distracting thoughts. He focused on his semblance, mostly picturing himself floating. After several minutes of meditation, he breathed rhythmically and was surprisingly calm given his nature. Even Remus bursting around like a firecracker didn't faze him. Silver's clothes were moving again like a breeze was passing by, but unlike last time, so was his hair and the grains of sand around him were beginning to ascend and float around him.

Walking past him was Violet and Zelts, who were too busy dragging the thugs to the car despite their useless struggling to get free. She had a crook in each hand as she dragged them along the ground and Zelts carried two over his shoulders. She was too busy to look at Silver, but she noticed Remus using Will-O-Wisp and saw how each burst left some scorch marks with each use. She put two and two together and figured out what happened to the porch, including a certain someone who lied about it.

"Silver!" Screaming his name in anger knocked Silver out of meditation and he sighed knowing he was going to face her wrath, as usual.

"Goddammit."

 **Team VRSZ Volume Four: Complete**

* * *

 **Fun Facts**

 **After the reconstruction of Fortuna, a lot f the ruined outskirt buildings were demolished because they were beyond repair. Sterling gave Clair the idea to keep the area vacant and be used for merchants and sellers passing by who want to set up shop. The area is now called the Bazaar and a popular place for shopping for almost anything. With merchants coming and going, the places changes constantly and some people selling weapons and illegal items attract the wrong crowd into the Bazaar.**

 **Silver and Bianca already had their first date. Originally he wanted to take her to Edesia, but felt like he's gone there too much so they went to the Bazaar to try some of the food shops around. Bianca enjoyed the time they spent together and so did Silver, unfortunately he brought less money than he thought so he was short on cash. Not wanting their date to end, Silver searched for some quick cash and found some guys mugging people. He stopped them but not out of the goodness of his heart, rather he did it to mug the muggers of everything they got instead of finding the original owners. He rejoined Bianca who questioned what he was doing and he played coy.**

 **There is probably not going to be a Volume 5. Instead, there story may continue in the Color VRSZ Colour Chronicles which will have no focused plot and be more about VRSZ as freelancers and their friends as they live their lives. Or perhaps the fifth volume will won't have a focused plot. This story won't come for a while as I work on revising and correcting the errors on the other volumes. Origins is already done and I'm halfway finished with Volume One.**


End file.
